The South African Electoral Commission (IEC) is nearing completion of the vote counting operation.
With more than 96% of the national vote now counted, the ANC remains in the lead with just over 40% of the vote, compared with the DA at nearly 22% and former president Jacob Zuma's MK party at just under 15%.
MK set a new record for the number of votes won by a new political party in South Africa in a general election.
The IEC said it would announce the final results on Sunday. Legally, it must announce the results and seat allocation by Wednesday, seven days after the election.
Coalition talks must be concluded within a maximum of 14 days, because Parliament must sit within that time frame, according to the Parliament Act.
If the chief justice does not convene Parliament within two weeks, the president must call for new elections within 90 days.
The first order of business at the opening of Parliament is the swearing-in of MPs, followed by the election of the Speaker and then Deputy Speaker.
The president is usually nominated and voted in after lunch on the first day.
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In South Africa's general election, the Democratic Alliance (DA) comfortably won 75.3% of the international vote.
This resulted in 100% of the international votes.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) won 4.4% of the vote and the ANC 3.92%.
A total of 58,802 South Africans living abroad were registered to vote in this election, but only 67% cast their ballots in their home country, meaning that 32 of the 39,116 votes were invalid.
The largest number of votes were received by South Africans living in the UK.
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