MANDELAS LOST PROVINCE - THE AFRICAN-NATIONAL-CONGRESS AND THE WESTERN CAPE ELECTORATE IN THE 1994 SOUTH-AFRICAN ELECTIONS

The first democratic elections in South Africa, in April 1994, resulte d in a victory for the African National Congress (ANC). In two major p rovinces, however, the ANC was defeated. In the Western Cape the ANC l ost to the National Party (NP), and in KwaZulu/Natal it lost to the In katha Freedom Party. Most interpretations of the elections assert the pre-eminence of race and ethnicity. Our analysis of the ANC and the el ections in the Western Cape suggests that such interpretations underes timate firstly the significance of the parties' election strategies an d campaigns, at least ill this province, and secondly (and more broadl y) the complexity and variety of voters' decision-making. Political st ruggles within the ANC led it to adopt an election strategy which prio ritised the large number of undecided coloured voters in the province, but did so in ways that limited the party's appeal to these target vo ters.