Malema rules out EFF coalitions with DA, Freedom Front Plus

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has ruled out forming coalitions in municipalities with the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Freedom Front Plus.

Speaking at the Results Operation Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg, Malema says the party is open to discussions with other parties even if they are not ideologically of one mind.

“We have no conditions, nothing, because to come there and say if they don’t agree with us on this policy of ours, as if they are joining you, they are not joining you. The municipalities are not yours. Hold your policy; we hold our policy. But there is a municipality to be run here. Let’s come and run the municipality and stop those things of ideology, this ideology, that. We will deal with that when we deal with provincial and national politics. For now, let’s fix the broken municipalities.”

LGE 2026 | EFF leader Julius Malema says the DA did not steal any votes, but earned its support through voters who chose to vote for the party. https://t.co/riS94uciYZ

— SABC News (@SABCNews) November 7, 2026

The EFF has suffered a significant decline in support in the 2026 Local Government Elections, dropping from 10.31% in 2021 to 6.26%.
The party has lost more than 612 000 votes, slipping from third to fourth place nationally, with much of its decline concentrated in metropolitan municipalities.

Malema has acknowledged the setback, saying the party will conduct a thorough assessment of its performance across municipalities and provinces. He insists the results will not derail the party’s political ambitions, but will instead inform its preparations for the 2029 provincial and national elections.

We will take stock as an organisation of our performance, word by word, municipality by municipality and province by province. We will reflect on where we improved, where we maintained our votes and where we experienced setbacks, and take the necessary steps for correction.

“A majority of these setbacks can be located in the metros. But within those setbacks, the EFF has grown where the people live and where councillors are held accountable every day in the wards,” Malema adds.

VIDEO | Economic Freedom Fighters media briefing