Freedom Front Plus leader Corne Mulder said the ANC has broken everything it has touched since 1994. He said his party wants the ANC removed from every level of government.
Mulder made the comments in an interview with Nuuspod about the local government elections, which take place in November 2026.
“There is not a single thing in this country, nothing at all, that the ANC has touched over the last 32 years that hasn’t been broken,” Mulder said.
He said the ANC uses clever words to hide its failures and to avoid blame for the country’s problems.
“Every time about something they’ve touched broke, they say, ‘It needs a turnaround strategy.’ What that actually means is that they broke it,” he said.
Mulder said that at the party’s manifesto launch, he named getting rid of the ANC as the biggest task facing the country. He said the country cannot be fixed until that happens.
He said the FF Plus is ready to work with other parties to reach this goal. “I am fully prepared to work with other political parties. I extend my hand and say, ‘Let’s work together constructively,’” he said.
Mulder also spoke about the Democratic Alliance. He said it may look as if the FF Plus is attacking the DA in its campaign, but he said this is not true.
He said the party’s plan is to avoid fights with any party other than the ANC, unless it is attacked first.
“If I am attacked, I have to defend myself. That’s what’s happening right now. I’m being attacked with half-truths and lies by the DA, but we aren’t looking for a fight,” he said.
Mulder criticised the DA’s campaign urging voters not to back smaller parties. He said this approach does not help coalition politics.
“There are 547 political parties registered in South Africa. Of those, only the DA is trying to make a point by claiming that everyone who isn’t them is small,” he said.
He said this was unfair to smaller parties and that parties should be judged by what they stand for. He called the strategy a sign of desperation.
Mulder said the FF Plus is not a small party. He said it has always been among the 10 largest parties in South Africa since it was formed.
“We are a large party represented in all eight metropoles, in all nine provinces, at the national level, and in provincial legislatures,” he said.
He said people should vote for a party because they agree with its values, not because they are told it is bigger than another.
“The reality is that ever since the ANC fell below 50%, no one can claim ‘I am big enough to govern alone’,” Mulder said. He said any party without more than half the votes depends on others to govern through coalitions.
Source: this article is based on reporting by newsday.co.za. Image: newsday.co.za. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice News desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Kgomotso Maake covers news and politics for Tzaneen Voice. Kgomotso reports on government, Parliament, municipalities, courts, crime and service delivery across South Africa, with a close eye on how national decisions reach towns like Tzaneen and the wider Limpopo province. Stories are written in plain English and focus on the facts: who made the decision, what it means, and what happens next.