South Africa's ruling ANC has shrugged off a slide in its support as results showed it had won an overwhelming election victory, while the opposition hailed its own improved showing.
With few votes left to be counted, the ANC was on a little over 62 per cent - down from more than 65 per cent in 2009.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) had more than 22 per cent - up from 17 per cent in the last elections.
"Any party that gets over 60 per cent of the votes, that party has massive, resounding support. So we're not unduly worried about the loss of three per cent or so," African National Congress spokesman Jackson Mthembu said.
DA leader Helen Zille, whose party is accused by the ANC of representing the white minority and the elite, said the results proved its appeal was spreading among blacks.
"We grew by 1.1 million votes, of which 700,000 came from black South Africans," she said.
"So the argument that I still hear today... that the DA has now reached it ceiling and cannot grow anymore, that argument, simply by the election results has been blown out of the water."
The ANC's victory nationally gives it a parliamentary majority big enough to hand embattled President Jacob Zuma a second five-year term.
But it has fallen short of the two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution and has seen its winning margin reduced for a second consecutive election.
The party of liberation icon Nelson Mandela has been in power for 20 years since the end of apartheid and went into these elections amid a surge of discontent over government corruption and widespread poverty.
