African National Congress president Jacob Zuma casts his ballot at the Ntolwane primary school in the village of Kwanxamabala, South Africa, on Wednesday. (Jerome Delay/Associated Press)

African National Congress Leader Jacob Zuma appeared before thousands of cheering supporters Thursday as his ruling party appeared ready to return to power and make him South Africa's next president.

"This party is an elephant. You cannot actually topple an elephant," Zuma told supporters dressed in the party colours of yellow, green and black at ANC headquarters in central Johannesburg.

Preliminary results from the 8.42 million ballots counted so far Thursday showed the ANC party leading the vote with 66.71 per cent.

Parliamentarians elect South Africa's president by a simple majority, putting Zuma, 67, in line for the post when the new assembly votes in May.

Zuma, who sang his signature anti-apartheid song, Umshini Wami, or Bring Me My Machine Gun, said the party would not celebrate victory until the final results are in Friday.

Going into the election, the ANC held 297 seats in the 400-member Parliament.

About 23 million South Africans registered to vote and a 77 per cent turnout rate has been reported so far by election officials. When the final ballots are tallied the turnout is expected to be about 80 per cent, officials said.

The election has generated an excitement not seen since South Africa's first multiracial vote in 1994, when the ANC was propelled to power under the leadership of Nelson Mandela.

The ANC sees Zuma, a former anti-apartheid guerrilla who has survived sex and corruption scandals, as the first leader since Mandela able to connect with voters.

Thousands of Zuma supporters began celebrations on Thursday. People gathered in downtown Johannesburg to dance, sing and barbecue.

May not hold two-thirds majority

Though victory was expected for the ANC, the party has been less sure of whether it can hold on to its two-thirds majority in Parliament. Without it, the ANC will not be able to enact major budgetary and other legislation unchallenged, or change the constitution.

The largely white opposition Democratic Alliance had about 16 per cent of the vote, according to the preliminary count. It was expected to take South Africa's richest province, the Western Cape, from the ANC.

The Western Cape is the heart of South Africa's wine, fruit and tourism industries.

During the campaign, the party's new leader, Helen Zille, who won praises as the mayor of Cape Town, courted mixed-race voters, who account for more than half the population in the province but only a small minority nationwide. Her strategy apparently paid off.

The Congress of the People — formed last year by a breakaway faction of the ANC — was trailing with about eight per cent in preliminary results, despite expectations at one point that it would pose a serious challenge to the ruling party.

'We are expecting a lot'

The opposition parties tried to paint the populist Zuma as corrupt and anti-democratic during the campaign.

The ANC, which has served as the governing party since 1994, has also been accused by some voters of moving too slowly over the last 15 years to improve the lives of South Africa's black majority.

Others say Zuma, who is aligned with the country's unions and leftists, will not be able to fulfill his promises of creating jobs and a stronger social safety net for the country of nearly 50 million, which is plagued by poverty, unemployment and an AIDS epidemic.

"We are expecting a lot — many houses, schools, jobs," said Precious Mosiane, 25, who is unemployed and looking for work. "We are aware that the economy is in trouble but we are going to make sure" the government fulfills its promises.

Zuma has warned that the global financial crisis may make it hard for the ANC to keep its promises of heavy public spending.

With files from The Associated Press