Malema calls South African EFF setback a setback
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Business Day (South Africa)
Julius Malema says the decline in support for his EFF party in the 2026 local elections is a setback rather than a defeat. The EFF won 6.2% of the vote, down from 10.3% in 2021, and lost 612,326 votes, according to comments by Malema reported by Business Day.
Support for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the South African party led by Julius Malema, fell from 10.3% in the 2021 local elections to 6.2% in the 2026 local poll, Malema said. The EFF leader described the result as a “setback” but not a defeat, according to TimesLIVE.
Malema said the EFF had lost 612,326 votes nationwide and its third place among South Africa’s main parties, now held by Jacob Zuma’s MK Party. He announced an analysis of the results constituency by constituency, municipality by municipality and province by province to identify areas where the party had made gains, maintained its scores or declined.
The EFF leader also said his party would use the results of the 2026 local elections to prepare for the 2029 national and provincial elections. He assured that the EFF would not seek to conceal its results or make excuses.
Julius Malema’s reaction comes after his statement attributing the EFF’s losses to the ANC in the results of the 2026 local elections.
