South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday that his ruling party would win "decisive" support in the coming general elections slated for April 14.

The 62-year-old incumbent president said an interview with local 702 Talk Radio that a "great mood of optimism about the future" had swept the country.

To win the election the ruling African National Congress (ANC) ruthlessly used its greatest competitive advantage over the other political parties in this election -- massive, organized membership over the country.

Top and low ANC members in every ward have been mobilized to goto each block, street and household in their communities from the beginning of this year.

The latest press survey results the respected research company Markdata indicate that the ANC will get 65.2 percent of the national vote next week, making the party very slightly short of atwo-thirds majority.

The survey places the Democratic Alliance (DA) second in the electoral race, with 11.8 percent, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)in third place with 8.3 percent and the Independent Democrats nextwith 7.1 percent of the national vote.

However, Mbeki warned against violence in the volatile eastern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province, which is the stronghold of the IFP opposition party headed by Home Affair Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi and being hotly contested between the ANC and the Zulu-based IFP.

He said large contingents of soldiers and police officers had been deployed to KwaZulu-Natal, where some 12,000 people were killed in the run-up to South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994.

"Given the history of the province and the intensity of the contest there, it is inevitable that there will be people who act wrongly. It is really necessary that all the political organizations concentrate their message against violence and intimidation," he added.

The press survey also provided predicted results for the two most hotly-contested provinces, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

The estimated results in KZN are ANC 47.5 percent; IFP 26.1 percent; Independent Democrats 10.8 percent; DA 8.1 percent.

In the Western Cape, the survey has predicted that the ANC willreceive 42.4 percent of the vote and DA 21.6 percent.

With full confidence, Mbeki said, the ANC "will get decisive support from the population. I was struck by the great mood of optimism among the people about the future of this country."

"They will tell you what the problems are, but there is great certainty that the situation will be better tomorrow," he added.

More than 20 million South Africans are registered to vote in the third democratic elections since 1994, which have been dominated by the ANC ruling party, the former top liberation movement turned political party.

The ANC currently holds 68.75 percent, or 275 seats, in the National Assembly and is widely predicted to clinch the election again with a two-thirds majority.

South Africa's president is elected by the parliament and with an unassailable majority predicted in various opinion polls, the ANC has made it clear it would select its primary candidate on itsparty list -- Thabo Mbeki -- for a second term as president.

Former president Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first black president after the ANC won the country's first democratic elections, held on April 27, 1994, when millions of blacks cast their votes for the first time.  

Source: Xinhua