FF Plus rules out EFF, MK Party and PAC coalitions after local elections - IOL

FF Plus leader Dr Corné Mulder says coalition governments could become the norm after the November 4 local elections, but the Freedom Front Plus will only work with parties sharing its political principles.

Freedom Front Plus leader Dr Corné Mulder has ruled out coalition partnerships with the EFF, MK Party and PAC after the November 4 local government elections, saying the parties do not share the same values and principles.

Mulder said coalition governments were likely to become the norm in municipalities after the elections. However, the Freedom Front Plus would only work with parties it could associate with, and that would act in the interests of communities.

He was speaking to the SABC in Pretoria after the party launched its 2026 local government election manifesto, which sets out a 10-point plan focused on service delivery, accountability and tackling failing municipal administration.

With more than 500 political parties contesting the elections, Mulder said the focus should be on the larger parties when considering possible coalition arrangements.

He said Johannesburg would be particularly fragmented, with about 80 parties contesting the election.

“My view is that one should look at the 10 larger parties. The Freedom Front Plus is one of those,” Mulder said.

He said the party hoped coalitions could be formed between fewer parties to ensure greater stability.

Mulder said the Freedom Front Plus would consider working with parties whose values aligned with its own, but would not enter into partnerships with parties it fundamentally disagreed with.

He specifically named the EFF, MK Party and PAC as parties the Freedom Front Plus would not want to work with.

“The reality is that, specifically those parties that I've mentioned, and there may be others, we do not share the same value system, we do not share the same ideals and principles necessarily,” Mulder said.

He acknowledged that political parties could agree on issues such as service delivery while still having fundamentally different political positions.

“We may all agree on no bottles, we may all agree on fixing the grid, or having electricity or the water system,” he said.

But Mulder said voters should also consider the broader values and principles of the parties they support.

He said the Freedom Front Plus believed many South Africans supported what he described as traditional conservative values, including property rights and opposition to expropriation without compensation.

He said these principles were also linked to the party's economic approach and its call for policies that would promote economic growth.

Mulder said the Freedom Front Plus was growing and increasingly contesting elections beyond its traditional support base.

“At the moment in five of the nine provinces in South Africa, we are participating in each and every council. We are participating in each and every ward,” he said.

He identified the Western Cape, Northern Cape, Free State, Gauteng and Mpumalanga as the provinces where the party was contesting every council and ward.

In the remaining provinces, he said the party was contesting between 75% and 80% of municipalities.

Mulder said the party had also attracted support from people from different communities at its manifesto launch.

He said voters were turning to the Freedom Front Plus because of the values and alternatives it offered, as well as its role in coalition governments.

The Freedom Front Plus manifesto places municipal service delivery at the centre of its election campaign, with Mulder saying local government was failing communities.

“The fact of the matter is that local government is the most important level of government because it's government closest to the people,” he said.

He criticised municipalities where large portions of their budgets were spent on salaries rather than services and infrastructure.

“In some municipalities, you'll find that 80% of the budget is being spent on salaries and not on services or infrastructure,” Mulder said.

He said municipalities needed fewer managers and more employees with practical skills to maintain essential infrastructure.

“We need more people on another level. We need artisans, we need people that can fix the pipes in the water, electricity, etc.,” he said.

Mulder said the party's approach was to put communities first and ensure residents received value for the taxes they paid.

Mulder said South Africa’s weak economic growth and high unemployment were driving frustration over jobs and undocumented migrants.

“The biggest problem in South Africa currently is the fact that our economy is not growing, that we have a huge unemployment rate, and it's getting worse all the time,” he said.

He said the Freedom Front Plus believed South Africans should be prioritised for employment, but stressed that the party did not support vigilante action against undocumented people.

“We cannot condemn any vigilante kind of actions against other people, we have to respect other people as well,” Mulder said.

He said undocumented migration needed to be addressed alongside efforts to fix infrastructure, attract investment and create jobs.