“Our people have spoken, whether we like it or not, they have spoken,” Ramaphosa said.
“As leaders of political parties, and as all those who hold positions of responsibility in society, we have heard the voices of our people and we must respect their wishes.”
He added that voters want the parties to find common ground.
“Through their votes, they clearly and clearly demonstrated that our democracy is strong and enduring,” he said.
Political parties in South Africa have two weeks to reach a coalition agreement, then the new parliament will convene to choose a president.
The center-right Democratic Alliance remains the second largest party in parliament, and has said it is open to talks to form a coalition.
Former president Jacob Zuma, who now leads the Umkhonto Visizwe (MK) party that came in third, did not attend the announcement of the results and suggested he might challenge them.
Earlier in the day, Zuma called for a rerun of the election and said the Electoral Commission should not announce the final results.
On Saturday, he warned the commission that it would “provoke us” if it ignored his demand to hold new elections and conduct an independent investigation into his party’s allegations of fraud.
“Problems don’t start when there’s no problem,” he said.
There are now concerns about how Zuma’s supporters will respond to the results.
