EFF to launch KZN local government election manifesto

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is set to launch its KwaZulu-Natal manifesto for the 4 November local government elections at the JL Dube Stadium in Inanda, north of Durban, on Saturday, 19 September.

EFF leader Julius Malema is expected to launch the manifesto and outline the party’s plans for local government over the next five years.

EFF TARGETS KZN AHEAD OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS

The manifesto launch comes as political parties intensify their campaigns ahead of the local government elections, with KwaZulu-Natal emerging as one of the provinces where the political landscape has changed significantly since the 2024 National and Provincial Elections.

In the 2024 elections, the EFF received 9.5% of the national vote, securing 39 seats in the National Assembly. However, its support in KwaZulu-Natal was significantly lower, with the party receiving about 2.6% of the provincial vote.

MK PARTY RESHAPES KZN POLITICAL LANDSCAPE

The EFF’s performance in the province was overshadowed by the emergence of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, which won about 45.9% of the KwaZulu-Natal vote and became the largest party in the provincial legislature.

Malema has previously rejected the suggestion that the EFF’s position on open borders contributed to its decline in support in KwaZulu-Natal. He has instead attributed the party’s performance in the province to the emergence of the MK Party under former president Jacob Zuma.

The emergence of the MK Party was a major development in the 2024 elections, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, where Zuma retains significant political support.

The party secured 37 of the 80 seats in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature after winning about 45% of the provincial vote. The IFP won 15 seats, the ANC 14, the DA 11, the EFF two and the National Freedom Party (NFP) one.

The result ended the ANC’s previous dominance in the province and forced a new arrangement in the provincial government.

Following the election, the IFP, ANC, DA and NFP agreed to form a Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), with IFP’s Thami Ntuli elected as KwaZulu-Natal premier. The four parties collectively control 41 of the 80 seats in the provincial legislature, while MK and the EFF hold the remaining 39 seats.

The MK Party and EFF are therefore outside the provincial government.

MALEMA’S ASSESSMENT OF PARTY’S PERFORMANCE IN ZUMA STRONGHOLD

Malema has previously argued that the EFF benefited from the political circumstances surrounding the 2019 local government elections, when Zuma had left the ANC and did not campaign for the party.

He has said the EFF was “lucky” to receive about 350 000 votes in the 2019 local government elections because voters who did not want to support the ANC had fewer alternatives.

Ahead of the 2024 elections, the formation of the MK Party introduced another option for voters, particularly in KZN.

The EFF subsequently fell to fourth place nationally behind the ANC, DA and MK Party, while its support in KZN was substantially below its national performance.