That possibility alarms opposition parties -- particularly majority-white ones -- but the successor to Nelson Mandela, ANC president Thabo Mbeki, sought to reach out to whites in his victory speech.

``The ANC will approach the exercise of power without any arrogance, with humility, with a deep sense of responsibility, to ensure... we act together to build a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it, both black and white,'' Mbeki said at yesterday's rally.

After ANC's re-election in the country's second post-apartheid vote, Mbeki takes over the presidency on June 16 from Mandela, who was away on a holiday, letting his protege shine in the spotlight.

With 94 percent of polling stations reporting results of Wednesday's elections, the ANC had 66.34 percent of the national vote. Thedemocratic party was second with 9.77 per cent, the Zulu-nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party had 8.26 percent and the New National Party was losing its status as the biggest opposition party with only 7.03 per cent.

Seats for the 400-seat parliament are allocated by a complex formula, taking into account voting on the national and provincial levels, and it was not yet clear if the ANC had won two-thirds, said Howard Sackstein, a spokesman for the independent electoral commission.

``It will be very close,'' he said.

More than 84 percent of the country'S 18.2 million registered voters cast ballots.

Mainly white opposition parties raised the specter that the new ANC government would be tempted to tamper with the constitution for authoritarian ends, a charge the ANC has steadfastly denied.

``The biggest winner in Wednesday's vote was South African democracy itself. In only the second democratic elections -- previously under apartheid blacks were denied the vote -- millions of South Africans patientlywaited in lines for hours, even in areas that five years ago were wracked by violence.

International observers hailed the election's freeness and fairness.

The vote was conducted in an ``exemplary manner and meets international standards,'' said Jan Nico Scholten of the Netherlands, head of a 40-member mission of the European Parliament.