Challenge to polls in the offing

Authorities have declared the recently concluded South African elections as "free and fair", but an opposition party has threatened to challenge the polls in court.

The KwaZulu-Natal-based Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) announced on Monday that it would launch court proceedings over the elections on Tuesday.

IFP spokesperson John Aulsebrook told IRIN that his party had lodged 46 complaints of election irregularities with the commission. "The IEC did not even process these complaints and went ahead and declared the results on Saturday. But we cannot be certain that the elections were free and fair - the complaints could have had a material impact on the results," he said.

The IFP also announced that it would not participate in either the national or the provincial government while the case was being processed.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) secured nearly 70 percent of the votes in last Wednesday's poll - its biggest electoral win since coming to power a decade ago.

The party has strengthened its position in the national parliament from 266 seats in the 1999 elections to 279 seats now, while the main opposition party, Democratic Alliance, came second with 50 seats, followed by the IFP with 28.

Independent Electoral Commission chairperson Dr Brigalia Bam announced on Saturday that, "in the run-up to these elections, we saw robust competition among political parties during campaigning. This time, the campaigns waged were issues-driven and the parties were no longer relying on the roles they played in the past, during anti-apartheid struggle years. In other words, these were not liberation elections as was the case in 1994."

Election observers from the 14-nation Southern African Development Community also declared the South African elections free and fair, and urged all parties to accept the results. Election observers from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe visited polling sites on the day.

Analyst John Stremlau said the fact that there had been no incidents of violence, and representatives from 31 African countries had come to observe how South Africa conducted its elections were "positive signs of a mature democracy".

The South African Broadcasting Corporation reported that British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had hailed the country's third democratic elections and was quoted as saying that "London looks forward to working with re-elected President Thabo Mbeki".

Mbeki is to be sworn in for a second term next week.