South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) party has failed to secure an absolute majority for the first time in 30 years, winning 159 of the 400 seats in the parliamentary elections, the electoral authorities confirmed on Sunday.
The ANC, which emerged from a liberation movement that fought the white minority apartheid government, has dominated South African politics since the first democratic elections in 1994.
But the result means a massive loss of power for the party of former anti-apartheid fighter Nelson Mandela, now with 71 fewer seats.
It is the first time in the country's democratic history that the ANC will no longer govern the continent's strongest economy alone. It will not be easy for the party to form a coalition government.
"Our people have spoken, whether we like it or not, they have spoken," said President Cyril Ramaphosa after the final results were announced.
The decision must be respected, he said. The chairman of the electoral authority, Mosotho Moepya, called the election result a "pivotal moment" for the country.
Now, the 400 newly elected members of parliament must form a government and elect a president within 14 days.
A possible coalition partner for the ANC could be the liberal Democratic Alliance (DA), which has 87 seats in parliament, making it the second strongest party.
After that came political newcomer the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, formed six months ago by former president Jacob Zuma, which won 58 seats.
The Marxist-influenced Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, which advocates large-scale expropriation without compensation and nationalization, won 39 seats. It is led by the former chairman of the ANC Youth League, Julius Malema.
Mbalula rejected rumours that Ramaphosa would resign. Earlier, the ANC acknowledged the severe defeat after almost all the votes had been counted.
"There's nothing to celebrate in terms of the performance of the ANC," Secretary General Fikile Mbalula told a press conference in Johannesburg after 99.91% of the votes had been counted.
The results had sent a clear message, and the ANC wanted to assure South Africans that it had heard that message, Mbalula said.
He added that the ANC remained the most popular party in South Africa and had secured a decisive majority in five of the nine provinces.
The party would seek to form a stable and effective government to implement economic and social reforms, and would conduct coalition talks over the days ahead, Mbalula said.
The results reflect the frustrations of many South Africans with an ailing economy, corruption and mass unemployment.
Abroad there are concerns about stability in South Africa, the continent's largest economy.
Known as the "gateway to Africa," it is seen as providing access to a continent that is of growing global importance thanks to rich raw materials deposits needed for energy transitions worldwide.