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

BBC/Simeon Ugbodovon

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