Local elections: EFF falls to 6.2% of vote in South Africa
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Zambian Observer
South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) wins about 6.2% of the national vote, down from 10.3% in 2021, according to provisional results from the 2026 local elections. Its secretary-general, Marshall Dlamini, acknowledges a performance below expectations while claiming 32 ward seats won, against 19 in 2021.
The EFF, the South African party led by Julius Malema, wins 6.2% of the vote in the 2026 local elections, compared with about 10.3% in the 2021 municipal elections, according to provisional results from the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported by the Zambian Observer. The party ranks fourth nationally behind the ANC, the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the MK party.
The decline is particularly marked in KwaZulu-Natal, where the EFF receives about 1.8%, compared with 8.64% in 2021. In Gauteng, the party wins about 6.7%, compared with 11.89% in 2021, and in Ekurhuleni, 6.5%, compared with 13.57%. EFF secretary-general Marshall Dlamini acknowledges that the party had hoped for a better result, while saying it is on course to win its first municipality in Lekwa-Teemane, in the North West.
Dlamini also says the EFF has already won 32 wards, compared with 19 in 2021, and that the party will use the results of the 2026 local elections to prepare for the 2029 elections, reports the Zambian Observer.
The EFF's decline comes as Julius Malema described the result as a setback for the South African EFF on 7 November. The KwaZulu-Natal ANC had also announced the previous day that it wanted to pursue a renewal after its electoral setbacks.
