South African President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday congratulated the Democratic Republic of Congo's(DRC) Independent Electoral Commission for organizing the historic elections in that country.

South African Foreign Ministry spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said Mbeki was aware of the announcement of the provisional results, which made incumbent President Joseph Kabila the winner.

Mbeki also congratulated the people of the Congo who came out in large numbers to "participate in this historic process as part of efforts to shape the destiny of their country."

"We will await the outcome of the final confirmation of the elections by the Congolese Supreme Court before a response to the results is made," Mamoepa said.

Congo 's Independent Electoral Commission announced Kabila's win late on Wednesday, saying he had taken 58.05 percent of the votes cast on October 29, compared to 41.9 percent for his rival Jean-Pierre Bemba, the vice-president and a former rebel leader.

Kabila first assumed the DRC's top post when his father Laurent Kabila was assassinated in 2001.

The historic voting was the first multi-party election in the strife-ridden county over several decades. It was also considered the culmination of a peace process that started four years ago to end the DRC's 1998-2003 civil war in which Bemba led a rebel faction before joining a power-sharing government.

South Africa has long engaged in peace-restoring efforts in the DRC, dispatching some 2,000 peacekeeping soldiers in the country.

Story from Xinhua News