With almost all (99.51%) of the votes announced, the African National Congress (ANC) which has governed the country since 1994, is certain to lose its majority in parliament
The party once led by Nelson Mandela, which brought white-minority to an end, has 40% of the vote – its worst result in 30 years
This means that to stay in power, it will have to do a deal with one or more smaller parties
The president is not directly elected – he or she is chosen by parliament, where they would need the support of 50% of MPs
The obvious options for the ANC are either the DA, which came second with 22%, or the MK of former President Jacob Zuma
The centre-right DA opposes core ANC policies such as black economic empowerment so a deal could be tricky
MK says it cannot work with the ANC while Cyril Ramaphosa is president
He ousted Zuma as ANC leader and president in 2018 after a bitter power struggle
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission (IEC) has given an update on the vote count.
Here are the key things from the update:
Processing of the final results is nearing completion
But they are not rushing to announce the results to avoid errors
IEC agrees to look into objections and appeals filed late
Despite technical issues, the results remain uncompromised
Recounting of votes will be done where discrepancies are confirmed
All South Africans urged to remain call as vote counting nears conclusion
The commission is due to give another update later today
The first results have been announced from what is seen as South Africa’s most closely fought elections since the African National Congress (ANC) came to power 30 years ago.
With results from just over 11% voting districts counted so far, the ANC is leading with 43%, followed by the DA with 26%.
The radical EFF and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) of former President Jacob Zuma are on around 8%.
Final results are expected over the weekend.
Opinion polls suggest the ANC could lose its majority in parliament for the first time in 30 years, forcing it into a coalition.
The ANC has lost support due to anger over high levels of corruption, crime and unemployment.
But it is too early to predict the final outcome.
Wednesday’s election saw long lines of voters outside polling stations late into the night across the country.
One electoral official in Johannesburg told the BBC the queues were reminiscent of the historic 1994 election, when black people could vote for the first time, and which saw Nelson Mandela become president.
Many thousands of people were still waiting to vote when polls officially closed at 2100 local time (1900 GMT) but the electoral commission said they would all be allowed to cast their ballots.
Sifiso Buthelezi, who voted in Johannesburg’s Joubert Park – the biggest polling station in South Africa – told the BBC: “Freedom is great but we need to tackle corruption.”
Change has been a recurring sentiment, especially among young voters.
Ayanda Hlekwane, one of South Africa’s “born-free” generation, meaning he was born after 1994, said despite having three degrees he still doesn’t have a job.
“I’m working on my PhD proposal so that I go back to study in case I don’t get a job,” he tells the BBC in Durban.
But Mr Hlekwane said he was optimistic that things would change.
The queues, like this one in Johannesburg, are said to be reminiscent of the 1994 vote
A record 70 parties and 11 independents were running, with South Africans voting for a new parliament and nine provincial legislatures.
Analysts say this shows that many people are disillusioned with the ANC.
“We are entering the next phase of our democracy, and it is going to be a big transition,” political analyst Richard Calland told the BBC.
“We will either become a more competitive and mature democracy, or our politics will become more fractured.”
The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has signed a pact with 10 other parties, agreeing to form a coalition government if they get enough votes to dislodge the ANC from power.
But this is highly unlikely, with the ANC expected to remain the biggest party, putting it in pole position to lead a coalition if its support does drop below 50%.
It got 57.5% of the vote in the last election compared to the DA’s 21%.
South Africans do not directly vote for a president. Instead they vote for members of parliament who will then go on to elect the president.
So current President Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to remain in power.
Former President Jacob Zuma caused a major shock when he announced in December that he was abandoning the ANC to campaign for the new uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), which translates as Spear of the Nation.
Although he has been barred from running for parliament because of a conviction for contempt of court, his name still appeared on the ballot paper as MK leader.
The MK is expected to do especially well in Mr Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal, where tensions have been high, with some incidents of violence reported during the campaign.
Police and the army have been deployed to polling stations across the country to ensure that voting takes place peacefully, and that ballot papers are not stolen.
More than 27 million people were registered to cast their ballots, including a high percentage of young voters, who could prove decisive.
Artist Njabulo Hlophe, 28, said young people in South Africa tend to get marginalised but, “this is as much our country as our parents… they’re leaving it to us, so someone that really cares about the young people is someone I’m really looking at”.
Support for the ANC is expected to be higher among the older generation.
One 89-year-old woman, Elayne Dykman, told the BBC in Durban she hoped that young people in South Africa did not take their vote for granted.
South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) has expelled its former Secretary General Ace Magashule a week after a party disciplinary committee found him guilty of misconduct.
He was accused of having tried to suspend President Cyril Ramaphosa as party leader.
Mr Magashule was given seven days to respond but in a statement the ANC said he did not send any “representations to that effect”.
At one point, Mr Magushule was widely seen as a political kingmaker in the ANC and was a staunch ally of former President Jacob Zuma, who Mr Ramaphosa replaced in 2018 following numerous corruption allegations – all of which Mr Zuma denies.
Two years ago, Mr Magashule was suspended by the party after he had been charged with corruption – charges that he denies. But Mr Magashule said that move was against the ANC’s constitution and then said that President Ramaphosa was suspended – this is what led to the misconduct charge.
Mr Magashule has hinted that he may start his own political party.
South Africa’s scandal-hit President Cyril Ramaphosa has been re-elected leader of the governing African National Congress (ANC).
He defeated his rival Zweli Mkhize by 2,476 votes to 1,897.
Mr Ramaphosa won despite being dogged by allegations of money laundering, and a last-minute surge in support for Mr Mkhize, who has also been accused of corruption. Both deny the allegations.
His victory puts him in pole position to lead the ANC in the 2024 election.
But he is still at risk as he is being investigated by police, the tax office and central bank over allegations that stashed at least $580,000 in a sofa at his private farm, and then covered up its theft.
A panel of legal experts, appointed by the speaker of parliament, said that impeachment proceedings should be instituted against him as he may have both violated the constitution and broken anti-corruption legislation.
Mr Ramaphosa’s re-election bid was bolstered by the fact the ANC used its parliamentary majority to vote down the findings of the panel.
The president has denied any wrongdoing, and has launched legal action to annul the panel’s report.
He said the $580,000 came from the sale of buffaloes, but the panel said there was “substantial doubt” over whether a transaction took place.
Mr Mkhize was the health minister in Mr Ramaphosa’s government, until he was forced to resigned last year over allegations of misspending funds set aside to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
He too has denied any wrongdoing, and his supporters saw the allegations as an attempt to discredit him.
Mr Ramaphosa was the odds-on favourite to win, but Mr Mkhize gained more votes than expected after offering key posts to other powerful leaders in deals struck just ahead of delegates cast at the conference.
Both sides denied accusations of vote-buying.
The ANC has been in power since white-minority rule ended in 1994, and is hoping to secure a sixth term in the 2024 parliamentary election. But opinion polls suggest that its vote has shrunk considerably because of widespread corruption in government, high unemployment and poor public services – including constant power cuts.
