President Cyril Ramaphosa has described South Africa’s election results as a victory for democracy, despite his African National Congress (ANC) party losing its majority for the first time.
The party, once led by Nelson Mandela, won 159 seats in the 400-seat parliament, up from 230 in the previous meeting.
It is the ANC’s worst election result since apartheid ended thirty years ago – although it still has by far the most seats.
The results announced on Sunday represent a sharp drop in support for the party, which must now form a coalition to form the next government.
“Our people have spoken, whether we like it or not, they have spoken,” Ramaphosa said.
“As leaders of political parties, like all those who hold positions of responsibility in society, we have heard the voices of our people and must respect their wishes.”
He added that voters wanted the parties to find common ground.
“Through their votes, they have clearly and distinctly demonstrated that our democracy is strong and enduring,” he said.
South Africa’s political parties have two weeks to work out a coalition agreement, after which the new parliament will elect a president.
The centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) remains the second largest party in parliament and has said it is open to talks on a coalition.
Former president Jacob Zuma, who now leads the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, which came third, was not present for the results announcement and had suggested he might challenge them.
Earlier in the day, Zuma called for a repeat of the election and said the election commission should not announce the final results.
On Saturday, he warned the committee that it would “provoke us” if it ignored his demands for new elections and for an independent investigation into his party’s claims of rigging.
“Don’t start trouble if there’s no trouble,” he said.
There are now concerns about how Zuma’s supporters will react to the results.
Mr Zuma has been the political wildcard in this election – and he is preparing to flex his muscle as a kingmaker in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal, where the MK party has wrested a chunk of the vote from the ANC.
The organization was founded just a few months ago and results so far show it has won the largest share of the vote in the province for the national elections: 44% compared to the ANC’s 19%.
Local issues could have been a big factor in that shift, with some community members turning their backs on the ANC party over its failure to solve acute water shortages.
Parts of the province, such as Trenance Park, just a twenty-minute drive from the capital Durban, have had no tap water for ten months.
Residents depend on water tankers that sometimes do not deliver water on time.
People in KwaZulu-Natal hope that whoever wins the election will solve the problem once and for all.
Earlier, South Africa’s police chief warned that threats to destabilize the country would not be tolerated.
“There cannot be any room for threats of instability to raise objections or concerns about the electoral processes,” Police Minister Bheki Cele said at a news conference.
With all the votes from Wednesday’s poll, the ANC ended up with 40% – compared to 58% in the previous elections.
This was lower than the party’s feared worst-case scenario of 45%, analysts said.
The ANC has always been above 50% since the first democratic elections in 1994, in which Nelson Mandela became president.
But support for the party has fallen significantly due to anger over high levels of corruption, unemployment and crime.
