Addressing coalition building in a media interview, ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe hinted that the his party is unlikely to choose the DA as a partner.
He said there would have to be “policy alignment” between parties to a coalition agreement.
For the ANC, its black empowerment policies – aimed at giving black people a stake in the economy following their exclusion during the racist apartheid era – were “non-negotiable”.
He also cited the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, which President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law just before the election.
Mr Ramaphosa said the ANC could not have a partner which will oppose its implementation.
The DA opposes both the NHI and the ANC’s black empowerment policies.
The NHI promises universal health care for all, but the DA warns that the scheme could be hugely expensive and fuel corruption.
It also says there needs to be “wholesale change in empowerment policies, to move away from race-based policies that enable elite enrichment, towards policies that fundamentally break down the system of deprivation that still traps millions of South Africans in poverty”.