The rand lost strength against the US dollar on Thursday morning as several research organisations are predicting that the African National Congress (ANC) will lose its majority.
The rand was trading at around R18.65 to the dollar at 7.15am on Thursday.
Reuters noted that this was 1% weaker than its previous close.
The rand was trading at around R18.60 to the dollar at 11am. It was trading at around R20.12 to the euro and around R23.65 to the pound.
South Africans went to the polls on Wednesday and as the votes start coming the ruling party is waiting to hear if they will be forced to form a coalition with other parties.
ANC on coarse to loose majority: CSIR predicts
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) told the SABC on Thursday that the ANC is on course to win 42% of the votes cast in the national election.
The CSIR said that it based its research on an extrapolation of early tallies released by the South African electoral commission.
The research body said that it projects that the Democratic Alliance will get 22.3% of the vote.
It said that the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) would get around 12.8% of the vote and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) would get around 9% of the vote.
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