26-540: Freedom Front may refer to: Freedom Front Plus , a right-wing political party in South Africa that was formed as the Freedom Front in 1994 Freedom (electoral list) , an Italian populist electoral list also referred to as the Freedom Front that was formed in 2024 Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
52-669: A city councilor in Bela-Bela , becoming the first black South African to serve as a councilor from the FF Plus. In the 2024 general election , the FF Plus gave up many of the gains it had previously made against the DA, winning only six seats in Parliament (National Assembly) with 1.36% of the vote. In June 2024, Freedom Front Plus agreed to join the ANC-led government of national unity (GNU). The leader of
78-558: A pivot of the party away from being an exclusive abode for Afrikaners to that of one for all minorities, with a special focus on Afrikaans-speaking minorities. This was highlighted when the FF Plus and the Bruin Bemagtiging Beweging (Brown Movement) – an interest group focused on Coloureds led by Peter Marais , the former premier of the Western Cape – formed an official alliance. This ultimately led to Marais being elected as
104-568: A seat in the North West. The party also enjoyed consistent landslide victories in the Afrikaner enclave Orania . Along with other parties, the FF Plus entered into coalition with the Democratic Alliance (DA) after the 2016 municipal elections to govern Johannesburg , Tshwane and several other municipalities. In 2016, Pieter Groenewald took over leadership of the FF Plus. He oversaw
130-676: Is a right-wing political party in South Africa that was formed (as the Freedom Front) in 1994. It is led by Pieter Groenewald . Since 2024, it is a part of the current South African government of national unity together with the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance and other parties. The Freedom Front was founded on 1 March 1994 by members of the Afrikaner community under Constand Viljoen , after he had left
156-700: The Afrikaner Volksfront amidst disagreements. Seeking to achieve his goals through electoral 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
182-519: The Democratic Alliance (DA) in municipal by-elections in the North West Province and continued to show growth in various other municipal by-elections in Gauteng , Limpopo and Mpumalanga . In the run up to the 2021 local government elections , the FF Plus adopted Cape Independence as an official party position. They and CapeXit had a joint election campaign in the Western Cape to highlight
208-615: The Russian invasion of Ukraine . During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war , the party expressed support for Israel. These tables show the electoral performance for the FF Plus since the advent of democracy in 1994: Pieter Mulder Pieter Willem Adriaan Mulder (born 26 July 1951) is a South African politician and the former leader of the Freedom Front Plus . He served as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in
234-671: The Cabinet of President Jacob Zuma from 2009–14. Mulder was born in Randfontein and grew up in Randfontein and Cape Town . He completed his secondary education at Riebeeck High School in Randfontein, where he was head boy and Victor Ludorum in athletics. The son of former Cabinet minister Connie Mulder , Pieter first worked as a lecturer at the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education , before being promoted to head of
260-657: The FF Plus at the 2019 election . Both parties' voters also hold some crossover on policy matters, such as Cape independence and federalism . As of 2021, its stated policy positions include abolishing affirmative action and replacing it with merit-based appointments, and opposing the proposed expropriation without compensation land reform movement to protect the rights and interests of minorities, especially Afrikaners and Afrikaans -speaking Coloureds. The party also supports greater self-determination for minorities throughout South Africa, and has adopted Cape independence as an official party position. In this regard,
286-590: The FF Plus, Pieter Groenewald, became Minister of Correctional Services in the new Cabinet. FF Plus is a right-wing , conservative political party with its beliefs and ideals largely centred around Afrikaner interests' and Afrikaner nationalism with an orientation around Christian values. With its origins in Afrikaner Volksfront (Afrikaner People's Front) and the Conservative Party , FF Plus's position has shifted to being more moderate and populist since its beginning, particularly under
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#1732848733670312-596: The Freedom Front won nine seats in the National Assembly. This number was reduced to three at the 1999 general election . Viljoen, who acted as the leader since the party's founding, retired from politics in 2001 and Mulder succeeded him. In 2004, under Mulder's leadership, the Freedom Front was renamed Freedom Front Plus after absorbing the smaller Conservative Party , the Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging (Afrikaner Unity Movement), which lost its only seat in
338-593: The National Assembly due to floor-crossing, and the Federal Alliance of Dr. Louis Luyt . At the 2004 general election , the new "Freedom Front Plus" managed to gain four seats in the National Assembly. On 10 May 2009, President Jacob Zuma announced his appointment of Mulder as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Mulder served until May 2014, when he was replaced by former Police Commissioner Bheki Cele . Mulder stepped down as leader of
364-506: The elections. In the election, under the leadership of 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
390-553: The leadership of Pieter Groenewald , who has campaigned to alleviate issues within both Afrikaner and Coloured communities, particularly within the Cape provinces ( Northern Cape , Western Cape , Eastern Cape ). Within the South African political landscape, the FF Plus is considered further to the right than many other parties, however holds significant vote share with the Democratic Alliance (DA), many voters of which moved toward
416-480: The next twenty years. In 2001, Viljoen retired and Pieter Mulder was elected as leader. 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 Plus or FF+), led by Mulder. Later, the Federal Alliance also joined the VF+/FF+. Under Mulder's leadership
442-725: The party has put forward legislation in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (known as the Western Cape People's Bill) calling for a recognition of Western Cape self-determination. The party is critical of what it regards as South Africa's contradictory foreign policy under the governing African National Congress (ANC). The FF Plus supports the strengthening of relations with countries that "promote self-determination within their own borders", as well as countries with whom South Africa has strong existing trade ties. The party has called on South Africa to criticize
468-479: 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 and 2% in its stronghold provinces. This represented a respectable portion of the Afrikaner vote, but nowhere near earlier levels. The party's support remained relatively stable in all national elections held during
494-481: 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 FF Plus'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 Plus increased its vote slightly to 0.9%. It retained its 4 MPs, and also regained
520-405: The party's candidate for premier of the Western Cape for the 2019 elections. FF Plus voter support increased substantially in the 2019 general election , with the party growing its vote total by 250,000, to 2.38% of the national vote, earning ten seats in the National Assembly. This was more than the nine seats that the old Freedom Front had received in 1994. Additionally, it gained eight seats in
546-464: The party's stance on Cape Independence. Over 60% of the FF Plus's ward councillors standing in the Western Cape were Coloureds, with Lennit Max being the party's candidate for mayor of Cape Town. The party claims that their candidates are selected purely on merit in contrast to the DA. The FF Plus continued their gains in the Western Cape as a result, being in the kingmaker position in over 6 districts. In 2022, FF Plus member Manicks Mpunwana became
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#1732848733670572-463: The party's support remained relatively stable. 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 FF Plus received 1% of the popular vote (252,253 votes cast). In the 2009 general election ,
598-465: The provincial legislatures, for a total of eleven. In the 2014 general election, the FF Plus won seats in three provincial legislatures, in 2019, it won seats in eight out of the nine provincial legislatures. Its new supporters were largely Afrikaners and Coloured voters from the Western Cape who had previously supported the DA. Following the 2019 general election , the FF Plus won three wards from
624-557: The title Freedom Front . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Freedom_Front&oldid=1219091047 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Freedom Front Plus The Freedom Front Plus ( FF Plus or FF+ ; Afrikaans : Vryheidsfront Plus , VF Plus )
650-539: The university's communications department. He represented the town of Potchefstroom in Parliament for nearly thirty years from 1988–2017, initially elected as an MP for the Conservative Party (KP). Prior to South Africa's first non-racial election in 1994 , Mulder co-founded the Freedom Front with General Constand Viljoen , a former head of the South African Defence Force . At the election in 1994,
676-408: 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. Freedom Front support gradually eroded 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
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