Final figures from Wednesday's poll, released by the electoral commission on Saturday, showed the ANC had an unassailable lead over rival parties.

The ANC won 65.9 percent of the 18 millions votes cast, leaving the party just short of the two-thirds majority it needs to be able to change the constitution.

The opposition Democratic Alliance led by Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille won just under 17 percent, while a splinter party formed by ANC dissidents, the Congress of the People, trailed on 7.42 percent.

More than 75 percent of South Africa's 23 million registered voters cast ballots in Wednesday's poll. It was the nation's fourth general election since the end of apartheid in 1994.