Read the victory speech by Jacob Zuma

ANC President Jacob Zuma addressed political parties and guests at the IEC centre in Pretoria after the announcement of the official election results. Here is the full text of his speech...

Ladies and gentlemen... We have come to the end of a vibrant election campaign. The huge voter turnout has indicated the value attached by our people to the right to vote and to the constitutional and democratic way to change or renew a government's mandate.

We congratulate the Independent Electoral Commission for once again delivering a good and efficient election. They always rise to our expectations and make our nation proud. Where there were glitches, they were attended to very quickly.

The elections were free and fair and we accept the results. They were attracted by our policies and the delivery of services in the past 15 years, as well as the track record of this movement in working to build a better South Africa since 1912.

We do not take the mandate lightly, we know the responsibility that comes with it. We also thank our people who voted for the ANC for the first time in this election. We assure you that your vote was not misplaced. We thank ANC cadres, supporters and volunteers for their excellent work across the length and breadth of our country. This is your victory.

To those South Africans who did not vote for the ANC, we will form a government that takes care of your needs to the best of our ability. Working together we will make it a government for all South Africans.

The new president of the Republic will be a president for all, and he will work to unite the country around a programme of action that will see an improvement in the delivery of services. He will strive to turn the climate in the country into a positive and relaxed one, that makes people free to be creative and work hard to improve their lives and the economy of the country.

Now that the election is over, we must enter a new era of hope and progress. We must enter a period where we bury mistrust, uncertainty, pain and tension, and begin a new chapter of harmony and collaboration. We cannot afford to dwell on the negatives. We have gone through a difficult period over a few years; it is now time to put it all behind us. We must enter a period in which South Africa reclaims its position and image as a thriving nation, which can overcome all its difficulties, and which is able to put the country first above sectional and party political interests.

As the ANC, we will build on the huge mobilisation success of our election campaign. We will build on the excitement around the ANC brand and policies. The ANC victory is an endorsement of our policies and programmes. But more than that, it is a victory for the country's Constitution, which we will always uphold, promote and defend. We reiterate that the Constitution is not under threat from the ANC. It has never been.

Our resounding victory is a celebration for people from all walks of life who helped to shape our Manifesto which will now become government's programme of action for the next five years.

We thank women, the youth, black professionals, minority groups, workers, artists and entertainers, traditional leaders, religious leaders and many sectors and individuals who made inputs into this Manifesto. There will be no surprises in the next administration's programme of action.

The electorate has endorsed our call for an equitable, sustainable and inclusive growth path that will bring decent work and sustainable livelihoods.

We have scored a victory for a better education system, better health care, safer and secure communities, and rural development.

We will make our country one that creates an enabling environment for women to develop, thrive and be successful. Let me emphasise that we remain committed to every word we uttered during the election campaign. We were serious when we said we would improve the pace and quality of service delivery, that we will appoint competent people to government, and that we will be tough on non-performance.

The incoming Cabinet will be required to turn the public service into an efficient, effective and very caring machinery that will respond effectively to the needs of our people. We were serious when we said we want to maintain direct contact with the citizens.

We will not be a government that is out of touch with its people. A cabinet lekgotla, scheduled for towards the end of May, will turn the Manifesto into a programme of action which will have clear time frames and deliverables. This will then be communicated to the nation in the State of the Nation address scheduled for early in June. We congratulate all opposition parties on a hard fought election campaign.

Now, we must work together and unite our people. We may disagree on how to bring about a better life for all, but what unites us is the fact that this country belongs to all of us, black, white, coloured and Indian equally.

We will need to work together on issues that are in the national interest, on which there is no need to compete or permanently bicker. We will work with all parties in Parliament to deepen the oversight role of Parliament. Together we must promote and defend the integrity of our State Institutions, including the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, and the Chapter 9 institutions.

We will work with all parties. We will need to do more to elevate our national days, such as the forthcoming Freedom Day, into inclusive, serious and meaningful occasions, which are instruments of nation building.

We intend to work with all parties and sectors to promote our sports development, starting with the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup. We must work tirelessly together to make the Confederations Cup in June and the World Cup next year phenomenal successes.

The World Cup provides tremendous opportunities for our country. We want to ensure that the tournament leaves a proud legacy that our children and our communities will enjoy for many years to come, and which contributes to the long term development of the country. We are convinced that we will make a success of the tournament and that we will impress the world with our abilities as a host for an event of this magnitude.

South Africa has played a key role in international affairs since 1994. We will ensure continuity in that regard. We will work with the African Union and SADC, as well as with other regional blocs, to promote sustainable development, peace and security. We will continue with efforts to find lasting solutions in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Western Sahara, Somalia and other flashpoints.

We applaud the progress made in Zimbabwe and with our neighbours and comrades well on the way forward. We congratulate the Burundians on progress made thus far in the quest for lasting peace. We welcome the announcement by the rebel group FNL that it will now lay down arms and participate in the democratic process in that country.

We will strengthen our participation in multilateral institutions, including the United Nations. We will further deepen our relationship with the developed North as well as our role in the South-South dialogue programmes. We are concerned about the potential impact of the global economic crisis.

We will work with all stakeholders, especially business and labour, to find ways to prevent and cushion our people against job losses and other difficulties that may arise. As we prepare for the transition into a new administration, our message to South Africans is that we will remain true to our undertaking to build a caring, inclusive, listening and responsive government.

South Africa needs a government that fully understands what else needs to be done to reverse our apartheid past, building on the successes of the past 15 years. The ANC, working together with all our people, will form such a government.

Working together, we will do much more to build a better life for all our people. I thank you.

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