THEPOLITICALTRANSITION
Commonwealth,
and the Organization
of African Unity observers as-
serted that the election was substantially free and fair. There had, un-
doubtedly, been many errors in the process, including bargaining between
the ANC and the IFP about the KwaZulu/Natal
figures. Yet the gross offi-
cial figures were quite close to the pre-election polls and were probably a
reasonably accurate reflection of reality. The ANC had won 62.65 percent
of the votes and 252 seats in the National Assembly, the National party
20.39 percent of the votes and. 82 seats, and the IFP 10.54 percent of the
votes and 43 seats. Mandela was elected president and Mbeki first deputy
president, and under the sunset clauses de Klerk became second deputy
president. The National party obtained 5 other cabinet positions and the
IFP won 3 seats in the cabinet. The ANC became the majority party in seven
of the nine provinces. In the western Cape, more than a million Coloured
people, who shared with Afrikaners their language, religion, culture, and
many of their genes, joined Whites to give the victory to the National
party, while in KwaZulu/Natal
the IFP won a clear victory over the ANC.
All the other parties did abysmally. Viljoen's Freedom Front won only