That's it from us for now - we'll resume our coverage of these momentous results on Sunday, when we expect the electoral commission to announce the final results, after addressing any complaints filed by the parties.

We're also expecting to hear exactly how many seats each party has got in the 400-seat National Assembly.

The president and government should enjoy the support of at least 201 of those MPs.

A reminder of where we stand:

• With 99.76% of the results in, the ANC has got about 40% of the vote
• This is the party's worst result since 1994 when it won the country's first multi-racial elections and Nelson Mandela became the country's first black president
• Since then, it has always enjoyed the support of more than 50% of South African voters
• This means it will have to share power with one or more parties
• The centre-right Democratic Alliance is second with 22%
• The MK party of former President Jacob Zuma is third with 15% - it says it could not work with President Cyril Ramaphosa
• The ANC is currently considering its options, as are the other parties

In the meantime, you can find any updates at BBCAfrica.com.

South Africa is divided into nine provinces, run by authorities who have extensive powers.

So the battle for control of these is just as important for South Africans as the national picture.

Before the election, the ANC ran all provinces except one - but that has changed dramatically.

With the counting of votes nearly complete, the ANC looks set to retain control of just five provinces on its own, needing to share power or face going into opposition in a further three.

These are the five provinces where it still has a majority:

• Limpopo - 73%
• Eastern Cape - 62%
• North West - 58%
• Free State - 52%
• Mpumalanga - 51%

It just fell short in Northern Cape, with 49%.

And it has lost control of the wealthiest province of Gauteng, where it only got 35% of the vote.

While in KwaZulu-Natal, the MK party of former President Jacob Zuma has pushed the ANC out of power, getting 45%.

The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has retained control of the Western Cape, with more than 50%.

So a bad set of results for the ANC at provincial level, as well as nationally.

Mohammed Allie
BBC News, Cape Town

The Democratic Alliance (DA) looks set to extend its reign in the Western Cape province by another five years but a group of 18 aggrieved parties, including the ANC and EFF, have launched a joint protest against the counting process.

They are demanding a recount or even a revote in some areas where they allege there were irregularities. Some demonstrators have been chanting “recount and revote" outside the election commission (IEC) centre in Cape Town.

“In some cases the numbers don’t tally,” said Muhammed Haron, premier candidate of Al Jama-ah, one of the protesting parties.

“There are other cases where parties know they had good numbers of voters but these are not reflected in the final tallies. There are also cases where agents said they were asked to leave the venue by the presiding officer while the counting was done.”

Another of the disgruntled parties, the Africa Restoration Alliance (ARA), got 7,500 votes in the Western Cape. Its leader Jerome Swartz said he intended to institute legal action against the IEC.

In a Facebook video, he said that in the Western Cape the ARA had more than 60,000 active members: “Being under 10,000 is plain ridiculous. It is fraud.”

The EFF also tweeted: “The evidential material at our disposal seems to suggest that the capturing process of the IEC was weaponised against the EFF and many opposition parties in the Western Cape.”

The IEC has not yet commented on the allegations.

Image source, Getty Images

One of the big winners in this election is controversial politician Gayton McKenzie, who leads the Patriotic Alliance (PA) which has been campaigning for the deportation of illegal migrants - and is eager to be considered in coalition talks.

“I’m ecstatic,” McKenzie, a former gangster and ex-convict, told state broadcaster SABC.

He pointed out that only his party, and that of ex-President Jacob Zuma, the MK, had seen their support grow significantly in this election.

The PA has gone from 0.04% of the vote five years ago to 2.06% nationally.

“We’ll work with anybody,” McKenzie, 50, said when asked about coalitions. His party is now the sixth biggest nationally.

But as part of the horse-trading that will inevitably be going on behind the scenes, he said there was one point on which the PA would not budge - foreigners.

“One thing for us that’s a non-negotiable, don’t waste our time and airtime to call us if you want illegal foreigners to stay,” Eyewitness News quoted him as saying.

To any reporter who approached him on the matter, he repeated the PA’s slogan on migration “mabahambe” - meaning “they must leave” in Zulu.

Illegal immigration has become a highly charged political issue, though no-one knows how many undocumented migrants live in South Africa.

Around 3% of the population, amounting to some 2.4 million people, are migrants to South Africa.

Ahead of the vote, rights group Human Rights Watch said that foreign nationals had been used as scapegoats and demonised in the election campaign, risking a further outbreak of xenophobic violence.

• Read more: You see skeletons’ - the deadly migrant crossing

Image source, Reuters

Twenty-five-year-old Minenhle Mdlalose, who sells fruits and cigarettes from a roadside stall in Umlazi township outside Durban, is happy that the new party of former President Jacob Zuma has done well in the election as he wants more formal employment and a secure job.

He abandoned the governing African National Congress (ANC), as many have done in KwaZulu-Natal province, to vote for Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.

The young vendor told the Reuters news agency it was not an easy decision to make: "We needed change to start from somewhere.

"From [the] transition from ANC to MK we are just hoping that the leadership under the MK understands better what our youth needs."

According to the World Bank, South Africa has the highest rate of unemployment in the world - and it has hit young people hardest.

Young people are worst affected. More than 44% of 15 to 34-year-olds are not in education, training or employment.

• Read more: Desperate search for jobs overshadows the election

Image source, Reuters

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has won by a landslide in votes cast by South Africans living abroad - 75.3%.

This is not necessarily a surprise as the party gets a lot of its support from the country's white community, along with other minority groups.

The radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) garnered 4.4% of the overseas vote while the governing African National Congress (ANC) took just 3.92%.

The MK party led by former President Jacob Zuma, which has done well at home, got just 1% of the international vote.

Nearly 40,000 voters cast their ballots abroad out of 58,802 who ad registered. This is a 67% voter turnout - 1% lower than it was in 2019.

The highest number of votes came from South Africans living in the UK, public broadcaster SABC reports.

The results are still trickling in from South Africa's electoral commission (IEC) - we now have results in from 99.7% of voting districts.

Of the 23,292, results have been declared from 23,222 so there are just 70 to go...

But in any case, those last few results won't change much.

The ANC has been stuck on about 40% of the vote for the whole day, followed by the centre-right DA on 22%, the MK party of former President Jacob Zuma on 15% and the radical EFF on 9%.

The IEC still has to rule on any appeals and complaints, and is expected to release the final results tomorrow at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT).

At this point, it is not clear when we'll get to the magical 100% mark.

Like the country as a whole, South Africa's wealthiest province of Gauteng is set for a coalition government after the African National Congress (ANC) lost its majority.

With 97% of the votes completed, the ANC has only obtained 35% of the vote - a sharp fall since the 2019 election when it got 50%.

It is still the biggest party in the province, which includes the biggest city Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria, but will need to form a coalition.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is in second place, with 28% of the vote, followed by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on 13%.

The ANC has had majority in the province since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Farouk Chothia
BBC News, Johannesburg

Let me give you a quick idea of how a president is chosen in South Africa.

Once the final results from the general election are declared, which is due tomorrow, the new parliament convenes within two weeks.

Normally, that is also when a new president is chosen.

If no agreement has been reached within a month, a fresh general election is called.

So gone are the days when the ANC uses its parliamentary majority to elect the president.

As only 40% of the new MPs will be from the ANC, it will need the votes of MPs from other parties.

So the choice of a president will be a crucial part of talks aimed at forming a coalition government.

A key question is whether the ANC can find 50% of MPs to support Cyril Ramaphosa staying on as president.

Image source, Getty Images

As well as the national vote, the election was also for legislatures in South Africa's nine provinces.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has retained control of the Western Cape, with more than 50% of the total votes cast.

With nearly 100% of the vote counted, the DA has 55%, only marginally down from 55.45% in 2019.

However, some other parties have raised various objections about the counting of votes in the province.

Image source, Reuters

The Electoral Commission (IEC) has just 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

• 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

Catherine Byaruhanga
BBC News, Johannesburg

An ANC source tells me that the top seven ANC officials, including President Cyril Ramaphosa are meeting at the moment - since 13:00 local time, (11:00 GMT) to discuss the way forward after the election results.

A press conference might happen after that with a communication from the ANC.

Image source, Getty Images

The party of former President Jacob Zuma is jubilant about its success in, with 99% of the vote counted.

“I mean, for a five-month-old baby to be disturbing the political landscape the way we have is just super-remarkable. I mean it has shocked everyone," says the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela.

In the KwaZulu-Natal provincial election, MK has pushed the African National Congress (ANC) out of power, getting 45% of the vote. Nationally it has around 15%.

MK was registered as a party in September, but it was only when Zuma came out in support of it in December that it gained national traction.

Zuma said he was turning his back on the ANC as he could not vote for a party led by his political rival President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Farouk Chothia
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, Getty Images

The leader of South Africa's radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has outlined the conditions under which it will form a coalition with the African National Congress (ANC).

Julius Malema said its demands included the expropriation of white-owned land without compensation.

He identified this as a "cardinal principle" of the EFF, and said the party would not compromise on it any talks with the ANC.

"There are certain fundamental things which are deal breakers," he said.

Mr Malema added that the EFF wanted to "work with the ANC".

"If there is one party we can work with, it's the ANC because when the ANC is comprised, they are not arrogant, you can work with them," Mr Malema added.

The EFF lost third spot in the election to former President Jacob Zuma's new party, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK).

He was gracious in his response, described the MK's performance as "commendable" and "decisive".

Julius Malema, head of the radical EFF party, has just finished addressing the media.

Here are three notable things from his latest answers to journalists at the national results centre.

1) Happy to work with Zuma’s party

The MK, which former President Jacob Zuma leads, might have robbed the EFF of votes in this election, but Malema says there’s no bitterness.

Both are breakaway ANC parties.

“MK - we are relatives, we’ll work with them also,” Malema said.

Zuma’s party has said it's unwilling to enter a coalition with the ANC, led by his erstwhile enemy President Cyril Ramaphosa, but Malema - who is eyeing a national coalition - says the EFF could partner MK at a provincial level.

2) EFF wants the finance ministry

Malema put forward his deputy Floyd Shivambu as a future finance minister in any coalition. The 41-year-old, a former ANC member from Limpopo province, has been serving the parliamentary committee for trade and industry.

"He’s the most qualified in all respects," Malema said.

3) Xenophobic campaigning failed

Malema scotched the suggestion that his party had lost votes because of its pro-migration policy.

He pointed out that smaller parties like ActionSA and Operation Dudula had done dismally.

“Who has benefited from xenophobic attacks? No-one. Operation Dudula they are not going to get anything – back to the village where they come from.”

He added that this all played into the EFF's ideology about a united Africa.

"We don’t want votes of racists; we don't want votes from people who thrive on the division of the working class," he said.

"We reject regionalistic politics, we reject tribalism. Tribalism leads straight to civil war."

Image source, Getty Images

Build One South Africa (Bosa) party leader Mmusi Maimane says the planned coalition talks should be open to the public.

He suggests that any talks to form a government should be held in parliament because “it's a space of transparency”.

The former Democratic Alliance (DA) leader says his phone has been ringing for coalition talks.

His Bosa party garnered 0.4% of the national vote.

He proposes parties that have made it to parliament to come together as the country steps into an era of coalitions.

With more than 99% of votes already counted, the ruling ANC has 40% of votes nationally and cannot reach the 50% needed to be able to govern the country alone.

This means the party will have to form a coalition government with one or more smaller parties.

Image source, EFF

During Julius Malema’s statement to the media, the EFF leader admitted that the 2024 election had not been “easy” for the party.

"[It] was fighting, not only against the ruling party, but against many puppets of the white racial capital establishment existing as political parties - and in different media platforms."

The results show that the EFF has lost its status as South Africa's second-biggest opposition party, polling 9% of the vote behind the new party uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), led by former President Jacob Zuma.

Malema said the EFF had suffered at the hands of MK in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces.

“We nevertheless commend the people of South Africa for voting the ANC from the ruling majority.

"Parliament will now be better positioned as a true representative of our people, and not a platform to protect the political elite of the ruling class."

He set out some conditions for the EFF to enter in a coalition - including land expropriation.

He is currently answering questions from journalists - and has said the EFF is willing to talk and its preferred coalition party would be the ANC because the former liberation movement had been humbled.

"We want to work with the ANC... because the ANC when compromised, it is not arrogant."

Malema has added he isn't resigning: "I'm not going anywhere."

Image source, Reuters

The ANC in South Africa's second-biggest province, KwaZulu-Natal, has accepted defeat there.

It had governed KwaZulu-Natal with an outright majority, but has dropped to third place in this election.

With almost all results in, former President Jacob Zuma's MK party has emerged as the largest party, with 45% of the vote in elections for the provincial legislature, or parliament.

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has taken second spot with 18%, with the ANC's vote plummeting to 17% - from 54% in the 2019 election.

ANC KwaZulu-Natal spokesman Mafika Mndebele told local TV station Newzroom Afrika the party was "humbled" by the electorate, and it accepted the result.

He added that the party was in contact with other parties to form a stable coalition government in the province.

MK decimated the party's vote in KwaZulu-Natal after Zuma announced in December that he would campaign for it, as he could not vote for an ANC led by Ramaphosa.

Zuma - whose presidency was dogged by corruption allegations, which he denies - was ousted by Ramaphosa in 2018.

Zuma comes from KwaZulu-Natal, and has always had a fiercely loyal following in the province.

MK is disputing some of the results in KwaZulu-Natal, apparently in the hope that a recount will give it an outright majority, removing the need for a coalition government in the province.

Zuma was the first leader from the province to become South Africa's president, following the end of white-minority rule.

After he was forced to resign as president, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for defying a court order to cooperate with a judge-led inquiry into corruption during his nine-year presidency.

This conviction means he is not allowed to take a seat in either the national or the provincial parliament, even though he is the MK leader.

He was released by Ramaphosa after serving three months of his sentence, in an attempt to placate his angry supporters who rioted after his imprisonment.

Zuma has repeatedly denied the corruption allegations, saying he was the victim of a political conspiracy.

Image source, SABC

Julius Malema, the leader of the radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, wearing a red and white checked Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, has arrived at the results centre in Johannesburg and is addressing the media.

He got off to a ropey start as his microphone wasn’t working, but says the EFF welcomes the outcome of the vote as it has broken the ANC’s hold on parliament, where it has lost its majority.

The EFF has also lost support in this election. With nearly all results in it has fallen to 9%, down from 11% in 2019.