Although the ANC once again came out victorious in the national vote and in eight provinces, it remains the biggest loser in these elections.

The ANC lost 19 seats in parliament in the elections, earning 230 seats compared with 249 in the 2014 elections.

Technically, the EFF is the biggest winner, having gained the exact number of seats lost by the ANC. In 2014, the EFF had 25 seats.

The EFF has become the official opposition in three provinces - the North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

This was a clear indication that the EFF was growing after it cemented its position as the country's third-biggest political party.

Another surprise was the Freedom Front Plus, which gained 10 seats, six more than it managed to get in 2014.

The ANC bagged 57.50% of the votes, down from 62.15%. This represents a decline of 4.65 percentage points from the 2014 general elections.

ANC national executive committee member Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said: "We've got a mandate and, yes, we've had a decline but we had 48 parties, so you can't expect that you will get the same results, but we are happy with the mandate that the people have given us."

"We're not taking the results for granted and we're going to work harder to do things that we do well better, and to change those that we haven't done well."

The DA dropped five seats in parliament to 84, increasing pressure on leader Mmusi Maimane's stewardship.