EFF: sources
Every fact on the EFF page with its full citation: the document, the page or section, and the date. The dates things were last checked live here rather than on the page itself. Candidates for the 4 November 2026 election are on the IEC’s certified candidate lists and the party’s website.
The header
Leader shown: Julius Malema, President and Commander in Chief, since July 2013. Source: Economic Freedom Fighters 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto, 31 July 2026
Founded: 26 July 2013. Source: EFF 10th Anniversary Media Launch Statement, opening paragraphs: 'was founded 10-years ago, on the 26th of July 2013' and 'at Uncle Tom's Hall in Soweto, 10-years ago', 28 February 2023
The header tiles use the IEC results and the offices listed under Results and offices below.
What it promises
Manifesto shown: Economic Freedom Fighters 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto (launched 25 July 2026 at Thohoyandou Stadium, Thohoyandou, Limpopo; 77 pages).
This manifesto sets out its commitments in running text rather than in a summary list, so the five are the first commitment under each of its first five headings, in the manifesto's own order. Taken from Section E, 'EFF Commitments', the first commitment under each of its first five headings: pp. 16, 19, 22, 24 and 27.. The short heading on each commitment is the site’s plain-language label; the quoted words are the manifesto’s own.
- Expropriating abandoned land and buildings: "Use its expropriation powers to expropriate abandoned land and buildings in order to make these available for use by young people for agriculture and other business activities." (p. 16)
- Universal, affordable basic services: "Build municipalities that guarantee universal, reliable, and affordable access to basic services as a foundation for human dignity and economic participation." (p. 19)
- Support for struggling households: "Introduce targeted support measures for working and middle-income households experiencing financial difficulties." (p. 22)
- Employing municipal workers directly: "In the next 24 months, employ municipal workers directly to reduce dependence on labour brokers and tenders for key municipal functions." (p. 24)
- Insourcing core municipal services: "Insource security, cleaning, waste collection, maintenance, and other core municipal services to create permanent jobs" (p. 27)
Where it stands
Water and electricity
- Disagrees – Municipalities should keep the right to buy electricity from private power companies as well as from Eskom.
Source: 2024 Road to Election Manifesto: Our Land and Jobs Now. Stop Load Shedding!, p. 45, 10 February 2024 - In between – Unpaid household electricity debts should be collected, not cancelled.
Source: Economic Freedom Fighters 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto, p. 19; p. 22-23, 25 July 2026 - Disagrees – Eskom's older coal power stations should close on their planned dates.
Source: 2024 Road to Election Manifesto: Our Land and Jobs Now. Stop Load Shedding!, p. 45, Energy chapter, 10 February 2024 - Disagrees – Where a municipality cannot keep the water running, it should hire a private company to run its water system.
Source: Economic Freedom Fighters 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto, p. 66 Municipal Infrastructure); p. 50-51 Water, Environment and Climate Change); p. 69-70, 25 July 2026
Housing and land
- Agrees – The state should give a free house to every household that cannot afford to buy one, not only the poorest.
Source: 2024 Road to Election Manifesto: Our Land and Jobs Now. Stop Load Shedding!, p. 10; Plan of Action on Human Settlement, items 1, 13, 20 and 28, 10 February 2024 - Disagrees – The law should make it quicker to remove people who have recently moved onto land without permission.
Source: Economic Freedom Fighters 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto, p. 46 Human Settlements), 25 July 2026 - Agrees – In some cases the state should be able to take land for housing or public use without paying the owner.
Source: 2024 Road to Election Manifesto: Our Land and Jobs Now. Stop Load Shedding!, p. 29-30, 10 February 2024
Crime and policing
- Disagrees – The death penalty should be brought back for murder.
Source: Death penalty is not the answer, says Julius Malema, 6 September 2019
No published position found in the documents checked, as at 13 October 2026, on: Provinces should be allowed to run their own police services that can investigate crime, alongside the national police.
Foreign nationals
- Disagrees – Only South African citizens and permanent residents should be allowed to own spaza shops and other small township businesses.
Source: EFF condemns planned xenophobic attacks in Soweto, 15 June 2021 - Disagrees – Foreign nationals without legal status should get only emergency care at public clinics and hospitals.
Source: EFF Founding Manifesto: Radical Movement Towards Economic Freedom in Our Lifetime, Sections 107 and 109, 27 July 2013
Jobs, grants and tax
- Disagrees – Yearly increases to the national minimum wage should be no more than about the rate of inflation.
Source: 2024 Road to Election Manifesto: Our Land and Jobs Now. Stop Load Shedding!, p. 40, 10 February 2024 - Agrees – Municipalities should employ their security guards, cleaners and other contract workers directly, rather than through contractors.
Source: Economic Freedom Fighters 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto, p. 24-25 Internal Capacity and Insourcing); p. 27 Jobs and SMMEs), 25 July 2026 - Agrees – Unemployed adults should get a basic income grant well above the current R370 a month.
Source: R350 grant just a food parcel programme: Malema, Malema's address on the EFF's eighth anniversary, 26 July 2021: the grant should be made permanent and raised to a respectable amount; the EFF has long called..., 26 July 2021 - Agrees – People earning more than about R1.9 million a year should pay more tax than they do now.
Source: 2024 Road to Election Manifesto: Our Land and Jobs Now. Stop Load Shedding!, Plan of Action on Fiscal and Monetary Framework, items 1, 6 and 18, 10 February 2024
No published position found in the documents checked, as at 13 October 2026, on: Labour laws should make it easier for businesses to hire and dismiss workers.
Councils and government
- Agrees – When awarding tenders, municipalities should keep giving extra points to black-owned businesses.
Source: Economic Freedom Fighters 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto, p. 43 Economy and Re-Industrialisation); p. 27 Jobs and SMMEs); p. 33 Gender Equality); p. 60 Youth Development), 25 July 2026 - Disagrees – Party leaders outside the council should have a say in who gets senior municipal jobs such as municipal manager.
Source: Economic Freedom Fighters 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto, p. 24; 2024 manifesto State Capacity chapter, item 23, 25 July 2026 - In between – A party should need at least 1% of the vote to get a seat on a council.
Source: Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Municipal Coalition legislation:..., Discussion section, contribution of Ms H Mkhaliphi, 29 October 2024, 29 October 2024 - Agrees – Parties should be required by law to make women at least half of their candidates.
Source: 2024 Road to Election Manifesto: Our Land and Jobs Now. Stop Load Shedding!, Plan of Action on Gender and Women, items 6 and 11, 10 February 2024 - Agrees – Provincial governments should be scrapped, with their work handed to national government and municipalities.
Source: 2024 Road to Election Manifesto: Our Land and Jobs Now. Stop Load Shedding!, p. 12, 10 February 2024 - Disagrees – The Western Cape should hold a referendum on whether to become an independent country.
Source: 2024 Road to Election Manifesto: Our Land and Jobs Now. Stop Load Shedding!, p. 31-32, 10 February 2024
National questions
- Agrees – The National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme should go ahead.
Source: EFF statement on Cyril Ramaphosa's planned visit to US President Donald Trump, 15 May 2025 - Disagrees – The school's governing body should have the final say on the language the school teaches in.
Source: EFF statement on the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill currently being deliberated on, 16 August 2023 - Agrees – Public universities and colleges should be free for all students, not only for those from poorer homes.
Source: 2024 Road to Election Manifesto: Our Land and Jobs Now. Stop Load Shedding!, p. 55 to 56, Education chapter, Higher Education section; NSFAS items on p. 60, 10 February 2024 - Disagrees – The government should sell SAA, the national airline.
Source: EFF statement on the collapsed SAA-Takatso deal and the withdrawal of the SAA Bill repeal, body of statement, 27 May 2025 - Agrees – The mines should be brought under state ownership.
Source: 2024 Road to Election Manifesto: Our Land and Jobs Now. Stop Load Shedding!, p. 10; p. 19, 10 February 2024 - Disagrees – Government should end race-based measures such as BEE in jobs, contracts and benefits.
Source: EFF rejects Malatsi's anti-transformation ICT policy direction and capitulation to US pressure, 23 May 2025 - Disagrees – Government should play a smaller part in the economy than it does now.
Source: 2024 Road to Election Manifesto: Our Land and Jobs Now. Stop Load Shedding!, p. 10; p. 35, 10 February 2024
No published position found in the documents checked, as at 13 October 2026, on: The courts should keep the power to cancel a law that breaks the Constitution.
Where it leans and party similarity
The dials and the radar use the positions listed above; each dial is the average of the party’s positions on its statements. Statements behind each dial: Economy: 6 of 7 statements; Services: 4 of 4 statements; Redistribution: 6 of 6 statements; Order and borders: 4 of 4 statements; Where power sits: 2 of 4 statements.
Party similarity is scored the way the quiz scores a person, on the statements where both parties have a published position: MK: 18 shared statements; ANC: 25 shared statements; IFP: 16 shared statements; ActionSA: 22 shared statements; PA: 17 shared statements; DA: 26 shared statements; FF Plus: 23 shared statements.
Results
National elections: share of the national ballot. Local elections: share of the proportional-representation ballot across all municipalities.
- 2014 national: 6.35% of the vote, 25 of 400 seats. Source: IEC 2014 National Election, Results Report - National
- 2019 national: 10.80% of the vote, 44 of 400 seats. Source: IEC 2019 National Election, Results Report - National
- 2024 national: 9.52% of the vote, 39 of 400 seats. Source: IEC 2024 National Election, National Ballot, Results Report - National
- 2016 local: 8.24% of the vote. Source: IEC Local Government Election 2016, Results Summary - All Ballots, National
- 2021 local: 10.46% of the vote. Source: IEC Local Government Election 2021, Results Summary - All Ballots, National
2024 provincial vote
- North West: 17.37%, 7 of 38 seats
- Limpopo: 14.12%, 9 of 64 seats
- Mpumalanga: 13.87%, 7 of 51 seats
- Free State: 13.52%, 4 of 30 seats
- Northern Cape: 13.25%, 4 of 30 seats
- Gauteng: 12.93%, 11 of 80 seats
- Eastern Cape: 10.14%, 8 of 72 seats
- Western Cape: 5.30%, 2 of 42 seats
- KwaZulu-Natal: 2.26%, 2 of 80 seats
Source: IEC 2024 Provincial Election, Results Report - Eastern Cape
Provincial legislature seats in 2024: 54 across the nine legislatures.
Offices
Offices as at 13 October 2026. Mayoralties may change after the 4 November 2026 local election; this page is updated once the new councils have met.
- Not part of the national government (the Government of National Unity). Source: Statement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on the appointment of members of the national executive, 30 June 2024
- Largest party in 2024, by provincial vote: no province (worked out from the IEC’s 2024 provincial results above).
In its own words
The site applies no ideology label of its own; the quotation is the party’s own description of itself, from its founding document, constitution or values page.
Facts
- Founded 26 July 2013. Source: EFF 10th Anniversary Media Launch Statement, opening paragraphs: 'was founded 10-years ago, on the 26th of July 2013' and 'at Uncle Tom's Hall in Soweto, 10-years ago', 28 February 2023
- Origins: formed in 2013 by former leaders of the ANC Youth League Source: Economic Freedom Fighters - South African History Online, opening paragraph: 'was formed by former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema and former ANC Youth League spokesman Floyd Shivambu', 20 July 2026
- Leader Julius Malema, 2013 to date. Source: EFF elects top six leaders, 15 December 2014
Funding
- 2021/22: public funding R19.5 million; declared donations R3.1 million
- 2022/23: public funding R40.9 million; declared donations R352,600
- 2023/24: public funding R78.0 million; declared donations R2.6 million
- 2024/25: public funding R59.2 million; declared donations R515,313
Totals, April 2021 to March 2025: public funding R197.6 million; declared donations R6.7 million.
Parties must tell the IEC about any donor who gives more than R100,000 a year (R200,000 a year since August 2025). Smaller gifts are not made public. Parties with seats in Parliament or a provincial legislature also receive public money from the Represented Political Parties' Fund (renamed the Political Representatives Fund in 2024), shown as public funding. Neither figure is the party's total income. The 2024/25 year is the latest covered by an IEC annual report; the IEC's quarterly reports for April 2025 onwards are on the IEC's political funding page, and these figures are updated when the next annual report appears.
Reports: Political Party Funding 2022 Annual Report, 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022; IEC Political Party Funding Annual Report for 2022/23, as reported by Cape Times/Sunday Independent...; Political Party Funding Annual Report 2024, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024; Political Funding Report 2025, financial year ended 31 March 2025; IEC quarterly disclosure statements Q1 to Q4 2022/23.
Note: the 2022/23 public funding figure is as the press reported it from the IEC's annual report, to one decimal place in millions, because that report could not be opened, so the four-year total may be out by up to R100,000; the 2022/23 donations figure is the sum of the IEC's four quarterly statements.