The electoral commission of South Africa has announced almost 60 per cent of the count. Here is how the top five parties currently stand:
- ANC - 42%
- DA - 23%
- MK - 12%
- EFF - 9%
- IFP - 3%
The seats in the 400-member National Assembly directly reflect the share of the vote that each party receives.
The new MPs then go on to elect the next president.
As things look now, some form of coalition will need to be agreed for a president to be elected.
However, President Cyril Ramaphosa will not be resigning as ANC leader after what are projected to be bad election results for the party, ANC Deputy Secretary-General Nomvula Mokonyane told journalists at the national counting centre.
When she was asked about any coalition negotiations, she said that for now the party was not talking to anyone.
She added that there would be an ANC leadership meeting later today to discuss the results so far.
A press conference will then be held on Saturday afternoon.
The political wildcard in this election has been the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party led by former President Jacob Zuma.
There's no doubt he's preparing to flex his muscles as the kingmaker here in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal where the MK party has wrestled a huge chunk of votes from the ANC.
Formed just a few months ago, results so far show that for the national election it has taken the largest share of the vote in the province - 44% to the ANC's 19%.
Local issues could have been a big factor in that shift with some community members telling me they were turning their backs on the ANC party because it had failed to fix acute water shortages.
Parts of this province, such as Trenance Park which is a mere 20 minutes drive from the main city of Durban, have had no tap water for 10 months.
Residents rely on water tankers that sometimes don't deliver water on time.
People in KwaZulu-Natal hope that whoever wins the election will fix the problem for good.