EFF leader Julius Malema
pictureEconomic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has denied that the open borders policy was responsible for his party's drop in support in the May 29 general election, blaming the rise of Jacob Zuma's Mkhonto weSizwe (MK) party for the main cause.
Speaking at a press conference at the National Election Results Centre on Saturday, Malema said MK's strong performance in KwaZulu-Natal proved to the EFF that the vote figures it had received so far in the province were not a true reflection of the support the party enjoyed.
Instead, the EFF leader said the previous votes had come from ardent supporters of the former president who were unhappy with the ANC.
“In any election, there are always dynamics. The emergence of this party is a new dynamic that we are now understanding. What President Zuma has done for us is [ActionSA leader Herman] “Mashaba did the same thing to us in Johannesburg in 2021. Once he identified the problem, we addressed it,” he said, pointing out that Action SA had not performed as well in this general election as it had in the local government elections three years ago.
On Saturday evening, 99.61% of results were received from the South African Electoral Commission, putting the EFF's national tally at 9.49%, down from the 10.8% support the party received in 2019.
The party fell from third place five years ago to fourth place, losing its position to the six-month-old MK Party (which won 14.67% of the vote).
Malema argued that the EFF's open borders stance had no impact on his organisation's performance and that parties that advocated for stronger immigration controls had not performed much better.
“Which political party benefited from the xenophobic attacks in this election? No one. Operation Dudula contested the election but they got nothing. They went back to their villages,” he said.
He said the party would continue to adhere to its core principle of African unity.
“We are refusing to switch off the oxygen machines. If comrades are saying it is taking away our votes then they should continue taking away our votes. We are refusing to deny our children to study in school because they are said to be from a particular background,” he said. [African] “Country,” he said.
“If we remain six on this issue then so be it. We are not going to retreat with fear-mongering scams. Ask Mashaba if you don't believe us. It's a lie to think you can win with xenophobia.”
Malema said a key point in this election was that MK had helped the EFF achieve its goal of wresting a parliamentary majority from the ANC.
“Now that the ANC's parliamentary majority has collapsed and there is no party that can form a government on its own, we as the EFF will be in discussions with the various parties on how to elect a parliamentary leader and form a government to lead South Africa for the next five years,” he said.
Malema has vowed to punish EFF members who did not play their part during the election campaign.