African National Congress (ANC) party has suffered a challenging election result

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted his African National Congress (ANC) party has suffered a challenging election result, after the party lost its majority for the first time since apartheid ended 30 years ago. The ANC, once led by Nelson Mandela, won 159 seats in the 400-seat parliament in Wednesday's election, down from 230 in the previous assembly. Mr Ramaphosa still described the results as a victory for democracy, calling on rival parties to find common ground - apparently preparing for coalition talks.

The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party has said it is open to coalition talks with Mr Ramaphosa, but it opposes a number of his government's key priorities. With all the votes counted, the ANC finished on 40% - down from 58% at the previous election, the electoral commission announced on Sunday. This was lower than the party's feared worst-case scenario of 45%, analysts said. The ANC must now go into a coalition to form the next government. "Our people have spoken, whether we like it or not, they have spoken," Mr Ramaphosa said. "As the leaders of political parties, as all those who occupy positions of responsibility in society, we have heard the voices of our people and we must respect their wishes."

He added that the voters wanted the parties to find common ground. "Through their votes, they have demonstrated clearly and plainly that our democracy is strong and it is enduring," he said. South Africa's political parties have two weeks to work out a coalition deal, then the new parliament will sit to choose a president. The center-right DA remains the second-largest party in parliament with 87 seats, and has said it is open to talks of a coalition. "We urge all others who love our constitution and all it represents to set aside petty politics and narrow sectarian interests and join hands now," DA leader John Steenhuisen said.

However, his party opposes two of the ANC's key priorities - its black empowerment policies, which aim to give black people a stake in the economy following their exclusion during the racist apartheid era, and the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, which promises universal healthcare for all. The ANC has said both policies are non-negotiable in coalition talks. Former president Jacob Zuma, who now leads the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party that came third with 58 seats, did not attend the results announcement and had suggested that he might challenge them. . The MK has said it would be prepared to work with the ANC, but not while it was led by Mr Ramaphosa.

He replaced Mr Zuma as both president and ANC leader following a bitter power struggle in 2018. In a BBC interview, Patrick Gaspard, who was the US ambassador to South Africa in 2013-16, described the two politicians as "sworn enemies". Earlier on Sunday, Mr Zuma called for an election rerun and said the electoral commission should not announce the final results.