The ANC said on Sunday that it would enter into talks with other parties to form a new government, after losing its three-decade-old absolute majority in a watershed election.
With 99.91 percent of the votes from Wednesday's election counted, President Cyril Ramaphosa's African National Congress had only 40.2 percent, a catastrophic slump from the 57.5 percent it won in 2019.
"The ANC is committed to the formation of a government that reflects the will of the people, that is stable and that is able to govern effectively," ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula told a press conference.
The party must negotiate a coalition government or at least persuade others to back Ramaphosa's re-election in parliament to allow him to form a minority administration.
Mbalula said the ANC will hold discussions internally and with other groups "over the next few days".
This marks a historic turning point for South Africa as the party has enjoyed an absolute majority since 1994, when liberation hero Nelson Mandela led the nation out of white-minority rule and into democracy.
- 'Clear message' -
"The results send a clear message to the ANC," Mbalula said.
"We wish to assure the people of South Africa that we have heard them. We have heard their concerns, their frustrations and their dissatisfaction."
The final results are to be formally announced on Sunday, with Ramaphosa due to deliver an address during an official ceremony near Johannesburg.
However, some parties have alleged discrepancies in the vote count.
The largest and most vocal was former president Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), which warned electoral authorities against going ahead with the final announcements.
"If that happens you are going to be provoking us," Zuma, 82, said on Saturday, complaining about unspecified "serious" issues despite providing no supporting evidence.
Data from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) showed MK in third place on 14.59 percent, a surprise score for a party founded just months ago as a vehicle for the former ANC chief.
But throughout the campaign, MK told supporters it was going to win two-thirds of the vote.
IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya said the commission was going to look at "everything that is before us" and had ordered recounts in 24 instances.
- 'No-go area' -
The ANC will now have to turn to opponents to form a government.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) held second place with 21.78 percent, slightly up on its 20.77 showing in 2019.
It governs Western Cape province and has promised a free-market agenda at odds with the ANC's left-wing traditions.
DA federal chairperson Helen Zille said all options were on the table, including allowing the ANC to rule alone as a minority government.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), led by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, was in fourth with 9.51 percent.
Malema and Zuma are former ANC members and some observers have suggested they would be more natural partners for the ruling coalition.
Other analysts said their demands might be hard to meet and the rift between Ramaphosa and Zuma -- who has long been bitter about the way he was forced out of office in 2018 -- too far-reaching to mend.
MK said it would not negotiate with the ANC as long as Ramaphosa is its leader.
But Mbalula said that was "a no-go area".
"No political party will dictate terms like that to us," he said.
The ANC remains respected for its leading role in overthrowing white minority rule, and its progressive social welfare and black economic empowerment policies are credited by supporters with helping millions of black families out of poverty.
But over three decades of almost unchallenged rule, its leadership has been implicated in a series of large-scale corruption scandals, while the continent's most industrialised economy has languished and crime and unemployment figures have hit record highs.
© Agence France-Presse
