Freedom Front Plus | |
---|---|
Abbreviation |
|
Leader | Pieter Groenewald |
Chairperson | Wouter Wessels |
Spokesperson | Pieter Swart |
Chief whip | Corné Mulder |
Founder | Constand Viljoen |
Founded | 1 March 1994 |
Registered | 4 March 1994 |
Merger of | |
Split from | Afrikaner Volksfront |
Headquarters | Charles de Gaulle Crescent, Centurion, Gauteng |
Youth wing | Vryheidsfront Plus-Jeug |
Membership (2008) | 25–30,000 [1] |
Ideology | |
Political position | Right-wing |
National affiliation |
|
International affiliation | UNPO |
Provincial Affiliation | CapeXit Election Accord [2] |
Colours | Orange Green |
Slogan | Slaan Terug (Fight Back) [3] [4] |
National Assembly | 6 / 400 |
National Council of Provinces | 2 / 90 |
Provincial Legislatures | 9 / 487 |
City of Tshwane | 17 / 214 |
Cape Town City Council | 4 / 231 |
Website | |
www | |
The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus or FF+; Afrikaans : Vryheidsfront Plus, VF Plus) is a right-wing political party in South Africa that was formed (as the Freedom Front) in 1994. It is led by Pieter Groenewald. Since 2024, it is a part of the current South African government of national unity together with the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance and other parties.
The Freedom Front was founded on 1 March 1994 by members of the Afrikaner community under Constand Viljoen, after he had left the Afrikaner Volksfront amidst disagreements. Seeking to achieve his goals through electoral means, Viljoen registered the Freedom Front with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on 4 March 1994 to take part in the April 1994 general elections (This date has also been given as 7 March).[ citation needed ] On 12 March 1994 Viljoen handed in a list of candidates for the FF to the IEC, confirming that his party would take part in the elections.
In the election, under the leadership of Viljoen, the Freedom Front received 2.2% of the national vote (with 424,555 votes cast), earning nine seats in the National Assembly, and 3.3% (with 639,643 votes cast) of the combined vote to the nine provincial legislatures. This suggested that many Afrikaners had split their vote. The party performed the best in the rural areas of the former Transvaal and Orange Free State, and was noted by the new deputy president Thabo Mbeki as representing possibly as much as half the Afrikaner voting population in these areas, with the strongest support among farmers and the working class. [5]
Freedom Front support gradually eroded in the coming years, as the party was strung along in ultimately fruitless negotiations with the African National Congress (ANC) to create a Volkstaat making the party lose its importance. It would also receive increased competition from new parties such as the Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging. In the 1999 election their support dropped to 0.8% (127,217 votes cast) with three seats in the National Assembly and between 1 and 2% in its stronghold provinces. This represented a respectable portion of the Afrikaner vote, but nowhere near earlier levels. The party's support remained relatively stable in all national elections held during the next twenty years. [6]
In 2001, Viljoen retired and Pieter Mulder was elected as leader. [7]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(November 2021) |
In 2003, shortly before the 2004 general election, the Conservative Party, the Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging and the Freedom Front decided to contest the election as a single entity under the name Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus or FF+), led by Mulder. Later, the Federal Alliance also joined the VF+/FF+.
Under Mulder's leadership the party's support remained relatively stable.
In the 2004 general election, support for the Freedom Front Plus rose slightly to 0.89% (139,465 votes cast). The party won one seat in most of the provincial legislatures, and four seats in the National Assembly.
In the 2006 municipal elections, the FF Plus received 1% of the popular vote (252,253 votes cast).
In the 2009 general election, the party received 0.83% (146,796 votes cast) and retained its four seats in the National Assembly but lost its seats in the provincial legislatures of North West, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape. After the elections, the FF Plus's leader Pieter Mulder was appointed as Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries by the new President Jacob Zuma. [8]
In the 2014 general election, the FF Plus increased its vote slightly to 0.9%. It retained its 4 MPs, and also regained a seat in the North West. [9]
The party also enjoyed consistent landslide victories in the Afrikaner enclave Orania. [10] [a]
Along with other parties, the FF Plus entered into coalition with the Democratic Alliance (DA) after the 2016 municipal elections to govern Johannesburg, Tshwane and several other municipalities.
In 2016, Pieter Groenewald took over leadership of the FF Plus. He oversaw a pivot of the party away from being an exclusive abode for Afrikaners to that of one for all minorities, with a special focus on Afrikaans-speaking minorities. [11] This was highlighted when the FF Plus and the Bruin Bemagtiging Beweging (Brown Movement) – an interest group focused on Coloureds led by Peter Marais, the former premier of the Western Cape [12] – formed an official alliance. [13] This ultimately led to Marais being elected as the party's candidate for premier of the Western Cape for the 2019 elections. [14]
FF Plus voter support increased substantially in the 2019 general election, with the party growing its vote total by 250,000, to 2.38% of the national vote, earning ten seats in the National Assembly. This was more than the nine seats that the old Freedom Front had received in 1994. Additionally, it gained eight seats in the provincial legislatures, for a total of eleven. In the 2014 general election, the FF Plus won seats in three provincial legislatures, in 2019, it won seats in eight out of the nine provincial legislatures. Its new supporters were largely Afrikaners and Coloured voters from the Western Cape who had previously supported the DA. [15] [16]
Following the 2019 general election, the FF Plus won three wards from the Democratic Alliance (DA) in municipal by-elections in the North West Province and continued to show growth in various other municipal by-elections in Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. [17] [18] [19] [20]
In the run up to the 2021 local government elections, the FF Plus adopted Cape Independence as an official party position. They and CapeXit had a joint election campaign in the Western Cape to highlight the party's stance on Cape Independence. Over 60% of the FF Plus's ward councillors standing in the Western Cape were Coloureds, with Lennit Max being the party's candidate for mayor of Cape Town. [21] The party claims that their candidates are selected purely on merit in contrast to the DA. [22]
The FF Plus continued their gains in the Western Cape as a result, being in the kingmaker position in over 6 districts. [23] In 2022, FF Plus member Manicks Mpunwana became a city councilor in Bela-Bela, becoming the first black South African to serve as a councilor from the FF Plus. [24]
In the 2024 general election, the FF Plus gave up many of the gains it had previously made against the DA, winning only six seats in Parliament (National Assembly) with 1.36% of the vote. [25] In June 2024, Freedom Front Plus agreed to join the ANC-led government of national unity (GNU) aka Third Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa. The leader of the FF Plus, Pieter Groenewald, became Minister of Correctional Services in the new Cabinet. [26]
FF Plus is a right-wing, [27] [28] [29] conservative [27] [30] [31] political party with its beliefs and ideals largely centred around Afrikaner interests' [32] [27] [33] and Afrikaner nationalism [32] [34] [27] with an orientation around Christian values. [35] [36] With its origins in Afrikaner Volksfront (Afrikaner People's Front) [27] [37] and the Conservative Party, FF Plus's position has shifted to being more moderate and populist since its beginning, [38] [39] [40] particularly under the leadership of Pieter Groenewald, who has campaigned to alleviate issues within both Afrikaner and Coloured communities, particularly within the Cape provinces (Northern Cape, Western Cape, Eastern Cape). [41] [42] [43]
Within the South African political landscape, the FF Plus is considered further to the right than many other parties, however holds significant vote share with the Democratic Alliance (DA), [44] [45] [46] many voters of which moved toward the FF Plus at the 2019 election. [45] [47] Both parties' voters also hold some crossover on policy matters, such as Cape independence [48] [38] [49] and federalism. [50] [51] [52]
As of 2021, its stated policy positions include abolishing affirmative action and replacing it with merit-based appointments, [53] and opposing the proposed expropriation without compensation land reform movement to protect the rights and interests of minorities, especially Afrikaners [54] and Afrikaans-speaking Coloureds. [55] The party also supports greater self-determination for minorities throughout South Africa, and has adopted Cape independence as an official party position. [56] In this regard, the party has put forward legislation in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (known as the Western Cape People's Bill) calling for a recognition of Western Cape self-determination. [57]
The party is critical of what it regards as South Africa's contradictory foreign policy under the governing African National Congress (ANC). [58] The FF Plus supports the strengthening of relations with countries that "promote self-determination within their own borders", [58] as well as countries with whom South Africa has strong existing trade ties. [58] The party has called on South Africa to criticize the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [59] [60] During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, the party expressed support for Israel. [61]
No. | Leader (birth–death) | Portrait | From | Took office | Left office | Duration of tenure | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Constand Viljoen (1933–2020) | National list | 1 March 1994 | 26 June 2001 | 7 years and 118 days | ||
2 | Pieter Mulder (b. 1951) | National list | 26 June 2001 | 12 November 2016 | 15 years and 140 days | ||
3 | Pieter Groenewald (b. 1955) | National list | 12 November 2016 | Incumbent | 8 years and 78 days |
These tables show the electoral performance for the FF Plus since the advent of democracy in 1994:
Election | Total votes | Share of vote | Seats | +/- | Government |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | 424,555 | 2.17% | 9 / 400 | – | in opposition largest opposition party (1994–1996) |
1999 | 127,217 | 0.80% | 3 / 400 | 6 | in opposition |
2004 | 139,465 | 0.89% | 4 / 400 | 1 | in opposition |
2009 | 146,796 | 0.83% | 4 / 400 | ±0 | in opposition delivered one deputy minister |
2014 | 165,715 | 0.90% | 4 / 400 | ±0 | in opposition |
2019 | 414,864 | 2.38% | 10 / 400 | 6 | in opposition |
2024 | 218,850 | 1.36% [b] | 6 / 400 | 4 | ANC–DA–IFP–PA–GOOD–PAC–VF+–UDM–RISE-ALJ coalition government |
Election [62] | Eastern Cape | Free State | Gauteng | Kwazulu-Natal | Limpopo | Mpumalanga | North-West | Northern Cape | Western Cape | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
% | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | |
1994 | 0.8% | 0/56 | 6.0% | 2/30 | 6.2% | 5/86 | 0.5% | 0/81 | 2.2% | 1/40 | 5.7% | 2/30 | 4.6% | 1/30 | 6.0% | 2/30 | 2.1% | 1/42 |
1999 | 0.3% | 0/63 | 2.1% | 1/30 | 1.3% | 1/73 | 0.2% | 0/80 | 0.7% | 0/49 | 1.7% | 1/30 | 1.4% | 1/33 | 1.7% | 1/30 | 0.4% | 0/42 |
2004 | 0.3% | 0/63 | 2.5% | 1/30 | 1.3% | 1/73 | 0.3% | 0/80 | 0.6% | 0/49 | 1.2% | 1/30 | 1.3% | 1/33 | 1.6% | 1/30 | 0.6% | 0/42 |
2009 | 0.2% | 0/63 | 2.0% | 1/30 | 1.6% | 1/73 | 0.8% | 0/80 | 0.6% | 0/49 | 0.9% | 0/30 | 1.8% | 0/33 | 1.2% | 0/30 | 0.4% | 0/42 |
2014 | 0.3% | 0/63 | 2.1% | 1/30 | 1.2% | 1/73 | 0.2% | 0/80 | 0.7% | 0/49 | 0.8% | 0/30 | 1.7% | 1/33 | 1.1% | 0/30 | 0.6% | 0/42 |
2019 | 0.6% | 1/63 | 4.0% | 1/30 | 3.6% | 3/73 | 0.3% | 0/80 | 1.4% | 1/49 | 2.4% | 1/30 | 4.3% | 2/33 | 2.7% | 1/30 | 1.6% | 1/42 |
2024 [63] | 0.5% | 1/73 | 3.0% | 1/30 | 2.3% | 2/80 | 0.2% | 0/80 | 1.1% | 1/64 | 1.5% | 1/51 | 2.6% | 1/38 | 1.8% | 1/30 | 1.5% | 1/42 |
Election | Ward + PR votes | Share of vote |
---|---|---|
1995–96 | 230 845 | 2.7% |
2000 | Not released | 0.1% |
2006 | 185 960 | 0.9% |
2011 | 120,519 | 0.5% |
2016 | 229,281 | 0.8% |
2021 | 549,349 | 2.3% |
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is a South African political party which is a part of the current South African Government of National Unity (GNU). The party has been the second-largest in South Africa since its foundation in 2000. The party is broadly centrist, and has been attributed both centre-left and centre-right policies. It is a member of Liberal International and the Africa Liberal Network. The DA traces its roots to the founding of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party in 1959, with many mergers and name changes between that time and the present. The DA has a variety of ideologically liberal tendencies, including neoliberalism, social liberalism, classical liberalism, and conservative liberalism. The party draws its support predominantly from Afrikaans and English speakers, people aged over 35, and white South Africans, as well as the Indian and Coloured communities.
Petrus Jacobus "Peter" Marais is a retired South African politician who served as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.
The Conservative Party was a far-right South African political party that sought to preserve many aspects of apartheid in the system's final decade, and formed the official opposition in the white-only House of Assembly in the last seven years of minority rule. It declined quickly after apartheid ended, before being merged with the Freedom Front in 2004.
General Constand Laubscher Viljoen was a South African Army officer and politician. He co-founded the Afrikaner Volksfront and later founded the Freedom Front. He is partly credited with having prevented the outbreak of armed violence by disaffected white South Africans prior to post-apartheid general elections.
A Volkstaat, also called a Boerestaat, is a proposed White homeland for Afrikaners within the borders of South Africa, most commonly proposed as a fully independent Boer/Afrikaner nation. The proposed state would exclude Afrikaans-speaking Coloureds but accept South Africans of English ancestry and other White South Africans, if they accept Afrikaner culture and customs.
Pieter Willem Adriaan Mulder is a South African politician and the former leader of the Freedom Front Plus. He served as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in the Cabinet of President Jacob Zuma from 2009–14.
Although the Democratic Alliance of South Africa in its present form is fairly new, its roots can be traced far back in South African political history, through a complex sequence of splits and mergers.
The Cape Independence Party (CAPEXIT), previously called the Cape Party, is a political party in South Africa which seeks to use all constitutional and legal means to bring about Cape independence, which includes the entire Western Cape, Northern Cape, six municipalities in the Eastern Cape, and one municipality in the Free State. The area includes all municipalities in those provinces with an Afrikaans-speaking majority. In 2009, it was claimed to have had a membership of approximately 1,000 people across South Africa, but official membership figures are not made public. The party currently holds two seats on the Cape Town City Council.
General elections were held in South Africa on 8 May 2019 to elect a new President, National Assembly and provincial legislatures in each province. These were the sixth elections held since the end of apartheid in 1994 and determined who would become the next President of South Africa.
The Accord on Afrikaner self-determination is a South African political accord that recognises the right of the Afrikaner people on self-determination. The accord was signed by the Freedom Front, the African National Congress and the National Party-led South African government on 23 April 1994.
Petrus Johannes "Pieter" Groenewald is a South African politician who is currently serving as Minister of Correctional Services since July 2024. He has served as the Leader of the Freedom Front Plus since his election in November 2016. He started his political career by being elected Mayor of Stilfontein in 1988. He relinquished the position in 1989 due to his election to the House of Assembly. Groenewald co-founded the Freedom Front in 1994, and served as a Member of the National Assembly until his election to the North West Provincial Legislature in 1999. He returned to the National Assembly in 2001.
The 2019 Western Cape provincial election was held on 8 May 2019 to elect the 6th Western Cape Provincial Parliament. It was the sixth provincial election held since the establishment of the provincial legislature in 1994.
Lennit Hendry Max is a South African politician, advocate and police officer who served as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, as Shadow Deputy Minister of Correctional Services (2010–2014), as Member of the National Assembly (2010–2014) and as Western Cape Provincial Minister of Community Safety (2009–2010).
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) announced on 20 March 2019 that a record number of 48 parties had registered candidates for the national parliamentary election. This is 19 more parties that contested the 2014 national elections. In the provincial legislature elections, the total number of parties registering candidates were:
The 2021 South African Municipal Elections were held on 1 November 2021, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces. Being the 6th municipal election held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994. These held - since then -every five years. The previous municipal elections were held in 2016. On 21 April 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the elections to be held on Wednesday, 27 October 2021. It had been recommend by Dikgang Moseneke to delay the municipal elections until 2022. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) requested the Constitutional Court to support the date postponement. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) supported the date postponement while the Democratic Alliance (DA) was against the postponement of the date. The Constitutional Court dismissed the application to postpone the date until 2022, ruling that they had to take place between 27 October and 1 November. On 9 September 2021, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced that the elections would be held on 1 November.
Marcelle Frieda Maritz was a South African politician who served as a Member of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature sfrom 2019 until 2024. She was a member of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) and the party's provincial leader. She served as a municipal councillor of the Mogalakwena Local Municipality prior to her appointment to provincial legislature. Maritz was a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA) until 2015, when she resigned from the party after allegations of racism. The DA soon laid criminal charges regarding racism against her in 2019.
Ignatius Michael "Michal" Groenewald is a South African politician who was elected to the North West Provincial Legislature in the 2024 provincial election. A member of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), he is the party's provincial leader in the North West. Groenewald's father Pieter is the national leader of the Freedom Front Plus. He was previously a municipal councillor in the Matlosana Local Municipality and a member of parliament.
The 2019 Northern Cape provincial election was held on 8 May 2019 to allocate the 30 seats of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature. Like all the South African provincial elections, it was held on the same day as the South African general election. 21 political parties participated in the election, of which only the African National Congress, Democratic Alliance, Economic Freedom Fighters, and Freedom Front Plus won seats. The ANC lost two seats, but maintained a majority.
The 2024 Northern Cape provincial election was held on 29 May 2024 to allocate the 30 seats of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature. Like all the South African provincial elections, it was held on the same day as the South African general election. 24 political parties participated in the election, of which only the African National Congress, Democratic Alliance, Economic Freedom Fighters, Patriotic Alliance and Freedom Front Plus (VF+) won seats. The ANC lost three seats and lost its outright majority, while remaining the largest party at 15 seats. The DA lost one seat, the EFF gained one, and the VF+ retained its single seat, while the new PA won three.
As a political force the Afrikaans community in the 2019 general election principally supported two political parties at a national level, the centrist Democratic Alliance and the conservative Freedom Front Plus (Saba 2019).
The DA is a federalist party, the Freedom Front is a federalist party, the IFP [Inkatha Freedom Party] is a federalist party.