President Cyril Ramaphosa encouraged South African party leaders to work together for the public good on Sunday after his ANC lost its 30-year ruling majority in a bruising national election.

However, in a warning of potential unrest, graft-tainted former President Jacob Zuma boycotted the results ceremony, and his third-placed uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party refused to accept the results.

With more than 98 percent of the votes from Wednesday's election counted, President Cyril Ramaphosa's African National Congress had only 40.15 percent support, a decline from the 57.5 percent it secured in 2019. This marks a historic turning point for South Africa, as the party has enjoyed an absolute majority since 1994 when liberation leader Nelson Mandela led the nation into democratic rule. 

South Africans began casting their votes on May 29 for the country's general election, expected to push away the African National Congress (ANC) from a three-decade-long majority rule run. 

President Cyril Ramaphosa's ANC faced fierce competition from parties on the right and left, as the country grapples with high rates of unemployment. 

"We have been talking with everybody even before the election," ANC's deputy secretary general Nomvula Mokonyane told AFP on Friday, saying the party's decision-making body would set the course to follow after final results are announced. 

"Anything must be based on principles and not an act of desperation." 

The new parliament will gather within two weeks, with the priority being to pick a president to establish a new administration. With no clear winner, the ANC will need to seek outside assistance to guarantee Ramaphosa's reelection.

In an address delivered following the official results ceremony, Ramaphosa made no direct mention of a settlement but emphasized the need of all parties to respect the results as final and working together.

"Our people have spoken, whether we like it or not," Ramaphosa said, alluding to Zuma's MK's likely legal challenge and the implied danger of upheaval.

"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."

The DA's experienced white leader, John Steenhuisen, had restated his commitment to cooperate with the ANC, if only to prevent what he called the "Doomsday Coalition" of the ruling party, Zuma's MK, and the EFF.

He called proposals in the MK and EFF manifestos to nationalize privately held land and erode judicial independence as "an all-out assault on our country's constitution."

"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," he stated.

Fikile Mbalula, the ANC's secretary general, told AFP that the party was now holding "exploratory discussions", adding that the ANC intends to reach an agreement "as soon as possible."