Freedom Front Plus

Freedom Front Plus
Vryheidsfront Plus  (Afrikaans)
Leader Pieter Groenewald
Chairperson Anton Alberts
Spokesperson Anton Alberts
Chief Whip Corné Mulder
Founder Constand Viljoen
Founded 1 March 1994 (1994-03-01)
(as Freedom Front)
Merger of
Split from Afrikaner Volksfront
Headquarters Highveld Office Park
Charles de Gaulle Crescent
Centurion, Gauteng
Youth wing Freedom Front Plus Youth
Ideology
Political position Centre-right to right-wing
National affiliation Collective for Democracy
International affiliation Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
Colours      Green      Dark orange
National Assembly seats
4 / 400
NCOP seats
0 / 90
Provincial Legislatures
3 / 430
Website
www.vfplus.org.za

The Freedom Front Plus (FF+; Afrikaans: Vryheidsfront Plus, VF+) is a national South African political party that was formed (as the Freedom Front) in 1994. It is led by Pieter Groenewald.

Its mission as on 17 May 2018 read: "The FF+ is irrevocably committed to the realisation of communities', in particular the Afrikaner's, internationally recognised right to self-determination, territorial or otherwise; the maintenance, protection and promotion of their rights and interests, as well as the promotion of the right of self-determination of any other community, bound by a common language and cultural heritage in South Africa.[1]

Its stated policy positions include a commitment to self determination in terms of Article 235 of the South African Constitution, amending affirmative action and land reform to protect the interests of Afrikaners[2] and protecting the rights of minorities in an open democracy.

Along with other smaller parties, the FF+ has entered into coalition with the larger Democratic Alliance (DA) after the 2016 municipal elections to govern Johannesburg, Tshwane and several other municipalities.

Foundation and early years

The Freedom Front was founded on 1 March 1994 by members of the Afrikaner community under Constand Viljoen, after he had left the Afrikaner Volksfront amidst disagreements. Seeking to achieve his goals through political means, Viljoen registered the Freedom Front with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on 4 March 1994 to take part in the April 1994 general elections. (This date has also been given as 7 March.) On 12 March 1994 Viljoen handed in a list of candidates for the FF to the IEC, confirming that his party would take part in the elections. Viljoen considered the election as a chance for an unofficial referendum, and urged Afrikaners to vote for the Freedom Front in their numbers to show support for the idea of a "volkstaat", a separate nation for Afrikaners away from the rest of South Africa.

In the election, under the leadership of General Viljoen, the Freedom Front received 2.2% of the national vote (with 424,555 votes cast), earning nine seats in the National Assembly, and 3.3% (with 639,643 votes cast) of the combined vote to the nine provincial legislatures. This suggested that many Afrikaners had split their vote. The party performed the best in the rural areas of the former Transvaal and Orange Free State, and was noted by the new deputy president Thabo Mbeki as representing possibly as much as half the Afrikaner voting population in these areas, with the strongest support among farmers and the working class.[3]

Freedom Front support would gradually melt away in the coming years, as the party was strung along in ultimately fruitless negotiations with the African National Congress (ANC) to create a volkstaat, making the party lose its importance. It would also receive increased competition from new parties such as the Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging. In the 1999 election their support dropped to 0.8% (127,217 votes cast) with three seats in the National Assembly and between 1-2% in their stronghold provinces. This represented a respectable portion of the Afrikaner vote, but nowhere near earlier levels. The party's support has remained relatively stable in all national elections held since.

In 2001, Viljoen handed over the leadership of the Freedom Front to Pieter Mulder.

Formation of the Freedom Front Plus

Freedom Front logo between 1994–2003
Map showing the party with the largest number of votes in each voting district in the 2009 election of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.
  Freedom Front Plus

In 2003, shortly before the 2004 general election, the Conservative Party, the Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging and the Freedom Front decided to contest the election as a single entity under the name Freedom Front Plus (FF+), led by Mulder. Later, also the Federal Alliance joined the VF+/FF+.

In the 2004 general election, support for the Freedom Front Plus rose slightly to 0.89% (139,465 votes cast). The party won one seat in most of the provincial legislatures, and four seats in the National Assembly.

In the 2006 municipal elections, the Freedom Front Plus received 1% of the popular vote (252,253 votes cast).

In the 2009 general election, the party received 0.83% (146,796 votes cast) and retained its four seats in the National Assembly but lost its seats in the provincial legislatures of North West, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape. After the elections, the Freedom Front's leader Pieter Mulder was appointed as Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries by the new President Jacob Zuma.

In the 2014 general election, the FF+ increased its vote slightly to 0.9%. It retained its 4 MPs, and also regained a seat in the North West.

The party has enjoyed consistent landslide victories in the Afrikaner enclave Orania.[4]

Leaders

No. Image Name Term start Term end Notes
1Constand Viljoen1 March 199426 June 2001Chief of the South African Army (1976–1980)
Chief of the South African Defence Force (1980–1985)
2Pieter Mulder26 June 200112 November 2016Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (2009–2014)
3Pieter Groenewald12 November 2016[5]Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 2009

Electoral performance

These charts show the electoral performance for the Freedom Front Plus since the advent of democracy in 1994:

National elections

Election Total votes Share of vote Seats +/- Government
1994 424,555 2.2%
9 / 400
 – in opposition
largest opposition party (1994–1996)
1999 127,217 0.8%
3 / 400
 Decrease 6 in opposition
2004 139,465 0.9%
4 / 400
 Increase 1 in opposition
2009 146,796 0.8%
4 / 400
 Steady ±0 in coalition
delivered one deputy minister
2014 165,715 0.9%
4 / 400
 Steady ±0 in opposition
2019 TBD TBD
0 / 400
 Increase ±0 TBD

Provincial elections

Election Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng Kwazulu-Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga North-West Northern Cape Western Cape
%Seats %Seats %Seats %Seats %Seats %Seats %Seats %Seats %Seats
1994 0.8%
0 / 56
 6.0%
2 / 30
 6.2%
5 / 86
 0.5%
0 / 81
 2.2%
1 / 40
 5.7%
2 / 30
 4.6%
1 / 30
 6.0%
2 / 30
 2.1%
1 / 42
1999 0.3%
0 / 63
 2.1%
1 / 30
 1.3%
1 / 73
 0.2%
0 / 80
 0.7%
0 / 49
 1.7%
1 / 30
 1.4%
1 / 33
 1.7%
1 / 30
 0.4%
0 / 42
2004 0.3%
0 / 63
 2.5%
1 / 30
 1.3%
1 / 73
 0.3%
0 / 80
 0.6%
0 / 49
 1.2%
1 / 30
 1.3%
1 / 33
 1.6%
1 / 30
 0.6%
0 / 42
2009 0.2%
0 / 63
 2.0%
1 / 30
 1.6%
1 / 73
 0.8%
0 / 80
 0.6%
0 / 49
 0.9%
0 / 30
 1.8%
0 / 33
 1.2%
0 / 30
 0.4%
0 / 42
2014 0.3%
0 / 63
 2.1%
1 / 30
 1.2%
1 / 73
 0.2%
0 / 80
 0.7%
0 / 49
 0.8%
0 / 30
 1.7%
1 / 33
 1.1%
0 / 30
 0.6%
0 / 42

Municipal elections

Election Ward + PR votes Share of vote
1995-96 230 845 2.7%
2000 Not released 0.1%
2006 185 960 0.9%
2011 120,519 0.5%
2016 229,281 0.8%

See also

References

  1. ↑ Freedom Front Plus | Mission http://www.vfplus.org.za/mission. Retrieved 17 May 2018. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ Setumo Stone (22 April 2014). "FF+ to target DA's Afrikaner voting base". Business Day. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "Unmandated reflections - Thabo Mbeki - NEWS & ANALYSIS - Politicsweb". www.politicsweb.co.za. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "Orania votes for FF+". IOL. 23 April 2009. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010.
  5. ↑ White, Ray. "Pieter Mulder steps down as Freedom Front Plus leader". Archived from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
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