The African National Congress (ANC) looked set for a two-thirds majority as vote counting passed the halfway mark on Thursday and future President Jacob Zuma celebrated victory with fireworks in Johannesburg.

With more than ten-million votes counted, the ruling party had taken 66,85% of the vote in South Africa's fourth democratic poll, while the Democratic Alliance (DA) was in second place with 16%, its strongest performance yet.

DA leader Helen Zille said she was delighted with her party's showing but worried at the prospect of the ANC retaining its two-thirds majority and with it the power to amend the
Constitution.

If this happened, South Africans who failed to vote on Wednesday should be ashamed of themselves for handing unchecked power to a man tainted by "corruption," she said in reference to the charges against Zuma that were dropped a fortnight before the poll.

Analysts differed over whether the score could change significantly as more results came in overnight.

But at the ANC party headquarters, the mood was euphoric as Zuma told fans the opposition had failed to erode the ANC's support because they focused on its supposed flaws instead of their own policies.

"For those who do not know the ANC, you touch the ANC, you touch a lion. The ANC will never go below 60%.

"Opposition parties campaigned by trying to belittle the organisation of the people, while we were busy campaigning in our own way."

The DA too, had cause to celebrate. Its national percentage grew by almost one-third, and it seemed within touching distance of a clear majority in the Western Cape with 48,7%.

It was expected that the party's score could still improve here and elsewhere because results for some of its strongholds were still outstanding.

A beaming Zille said her party had proven wrong analysts who had widely predicted "we would get about 10% and be neck-to-neck" with the Congress of the People (Cope).

On Thursday, the fledgling party seemed to be getting only one-half as many votes as the DA.

It was in third place, with just more than 630 000 votes or
7,91%.

Cope's Presidential candidate Mvume Dandala joked that it was a fine showing for a cash-strapped young movement that became known in the run-up to the poll as "the party without posters".

"We are satisfied, and in fact feel very encouraged, that as a young party we could actually be gunning for 600 000 plus," said Dandala.

Though it seemed clear that the splinter party had failed to eat into ANC support or challenge the DA's status as official opposition, Dandala felt that Cope had put in a strong performance as it was the first time since 1994 that a new party had broken through the 6% mark.

The elections seemed set to confirm the decline of the once powerful Inkatha Freedom Party, which had just 3,20% of the vote at this stage.

The Independent Democrats and the United Democratic Movement were tied at 1,19% at 17:00. The African Christian Democratic Party had 0,75% and the Freedom Front Plus 0,89%.

With votes cast overseas last week finally counted, the DA had more to shout about. It won 7 581 of the 9 857 votes cast by expatriates, compared to Cope's 918 and the ANC's 673 votes.

Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula said that though it was organised in a short time, the overseas voting process had been "fine".

The Freedom Front Plus and the A Party, who helped bring the court challenge that secured expatriates the right to vote, had reason to feel disappointed by their poor showing abroad.

IEC chairperson Brigalia Bam said the official election turnout, expected to be high after a dramatic voting day of long queues and ballot shortages, would only be known at the weekend.