Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema says the party will intensify its focus on the Bojanala District Municipality in the North West in a bid to recover lost votes and grow its support ahead of this year’s local government elections.
Malema was briefing the media in Johannesburg following the outcomes of the party’s 2nd Plenum of the 3rd National People’s Assembly held over the weekend.
Bojanala District Municipality, which includes major towns such as Rustenburg and Brits, has traditionally been a competitive political region with strong mining communities a key constituency for the EFF.
With the 2026 local government elections approaching, the EFF is now prioritising strategic municipalities like Bojanala in an effort to rebuild its electoral base and strengthen its presence at local level.
He revealed that the EFF had lost approximately 26 000 votes in the municipality during previous elections but expressed confidence that the party could reclaim the support.
“We are going to deliver back about 26 000 and get us more votes. Bojanala is ripe, ripe, ripe. It is not an area where the EFF should be losing votes, but we are confident,” Malema said.
Malema also rejected claims that the EFF is losing support nationally due to competition from the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party.
The EFF experienced a decline in national support during the 2024 General Elections, dropping to 9%. Political analysts have partly attributed the party’s losses to the emergence of former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party, which made significant inroads particularly in KwaZulu-Natal.
“MK took our votes in KZN. Nowhere else if you check except historic IFP stronghold hostels and IFP-dominated areas,” he added.
