Former president Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto we Sizwe party came in a surprisingly strong third in the May 29 election, which saw the ANC lose its majority.
The party and country will now have to enter a period of coalition building unprecedented in the democratic era, with potential partners ranging from the pro-business Democratic Alliance to insurgent parties led by former ANC figures who fell out with the party.
Zuma, who was forced to quit as president in 2018, has fallen out with the governing African National Congress (ANC) and has been campaigning for a new party called uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) named after the ANC's formed armed wing.
In power since the advent of democracy in 1994, Ramaphosa's African National Congress has suffered a sharp decline in support, beset by allegations of corruption and mismanagement.