Julius Malema blames ANC for EFF losses
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Daily Maverick
Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, says the ANC pushed some of his party’s voters towards the Democratic Alliance by joining it in government. He also criticised Helen Zille and hardened his tone ahead of municipal coalition talks, according to Daily Maverick.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) won 1.8 million votes, or 6.26% of the national vote, in South Africa’s 2026 municipal elections, compared with 2.4 million votes and 10.31% in 2021. The loss of 612,326 votes saw the EFF fall from third to fourth place nationally, its leader Julius Malema said on 7 November at the Results Operations Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg.
Julius Malema nevertheless stressed that the EFF had made gains in ward elections, winning 37 local constituencies compared with 19 in 2021. Thirty of these wards are new to the party and seven were retained; in North West province, the EFF rose from three to 10 victories, while it won seven in Mpumalanga after winning none in 2021.
Julius Malema also accused the ANC, the governing African National Congress, of contributing to the transfer of votes to the Democratic Alliance (DA) by entering a national unity government with it after the 2024 national and provincial elections. He rejected the idea that the DA had “stolen” votes from the EFF and said voters had chosen the DA because the ANC had agreed to govern with it.
The results come as negotiations on municipal coalitions continue, notably in Johannesburg, where Helen Zille, the DA’s mayoral candidate, favours a coalition with ActionSA or the ANC. They follow municipal results already published on 6 November on ward seats claimed by the DA and positions announced by several parties on coalitions.
