Breakaway party scores South African poll wins

A breakaway faction of South Africa's ruling African National Congress won 10 of 27 contested municipal by-elections in the Western Cape province, electoral officials said yesterday.

The by-elections were widely seen as an important gauge of support for the Congress of the People (COPE), formed after senior leaders defected from the African National Congress in protest at the ousting of former President Thabo Mbeki.

COPE candidates stood as independents in Wednesday's by-elections because the grouping has not yet officially registered as a political party. It plans to launch formally on Tuesday.

"The ANC won three seats, the (COPE) independents 10, Democratic Alliance nine and the Independent Democrats five of the 27 seats contested in the Western Cape," said regional electoral officer Courtney Sampson.

The ANC did not contest 12 of the 27 seats in the Western Cape, South Africa's premier tourist destination. Across the country, a total of 41 by-elections were contested and results were due from other areas.

The ANC has ruled Africa's biggest economy with a huge majority since the end of apartheid in 1994, but the party's dominance is being challenged by the split and a corruption case hanging over its leader, Jacob Zuma.

He has dismissed the breakaway faction as irrelevant, but ANC officials are worried about more defections and have gone to court to prevent the new grouping from using the name Congress of the People.

COPE has vowed to contest a national parliamentary election due next year.

Foreign investors are closely watching voting patterns amid fears the ANC will tilt to the left under Mr Zuma.

Since 1994, the ANC has been unable to win an outright majority in the Western Cape where the official opposition Democratic Alliance runs the city of Cape Town.