The African National Congress was set for a crushing victory over its nearest, white-led opponents last night in South Africa's third election since the end of apartheid.
With almost two-thirds of polling stations declared, President Thabo Mbeki's party had 70 per cent support, seven points more than Mr Nelson Mandela scored in the historic 1994 election. The Democratic Alliance party led by Mr Tony Leon trailed a distant second with 14 per cent, although the tally represents a significant leap in support since the 1999 election.
The landslide confirmed the ANC's towering popularity despite swelling discontent over deepening poverty, violent crime and the HIV/Aids pandemic.
It also marked the virtual decimation of the former apartheid rulers, whose New National Party saw its vote plummet from 7 to under 2 per cent.
"We are excited about the results so far," said an ANC spokesman, Mr Smuts Ngonyama. "The hurricane is beginning to blow. It's blowing in our favour."
Black voters remain grateful to the ANC for delivering them from racist white rule. Since 1994 millions have benefited from government-supplied water, housing and electricity.
If, as seems likely, the ANC secures a two-thirds majority it can change the constitution at will. Critics say its dominance is driving South Africa towards a de-facto one-party state.
Mr Mbeki reject the notion of a threat as "fictional", saying democracy is safeguarded by a strong judiciary and press.
Voter turnout slipped from 89 per cent in 1999 to an estimated 76 per cent, reflecting disenchantment among poor blacks and "coloureds" who have yet to benefit from liberation.
Nevertheless the massive vote confirmed South Africa's place among the world's strongest democracies. By comparison, just 51 per cent of voters participated in the last US presidential election, and turnout at European elections is often barely higher.
The 20 opposition parties ranged from right-wing Afrikaners to radical black socialists, to the KISS party (Keep it Straight and Simple) which attracted just 3,700 votes in preliminary results.
Feared bloodshed in KwaZulu-Natal province, the ANC's main electoral challenge, largely failed to materialise, but tensions remained high.
Yesterday morning 240 soldiers were dispatched to rescue 30 ANC polling agents who said their lives had been threatened by rivals from the Inkatha Freedom Party of Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
The ANC led polling in the restive province in early results, and IFP officials threatened to contest the result if allegations of vote-rigging were proven.
Early tallies gave the DA a four-point increase over its 1999 vote, suggesting it has succeeded in cracking its image as a whites-only party.
The virtual decimation of the New National Party led by Mr Marthinus van Schalkwyk - sneeringly referred to as "short pants" - exceeded the worst predictions.
"They've been on a slippery slope for the past 10 years by failing to reinvent themselves. By holding on to the past they lost the future," said Mr Paul Graham of IDASA. However, the NNP's slender support may be enough to ensure it a place in an ANC-led coalition government in its Western Cape heartland.
Dominance of ANC worries even its own friends: page 16