The FF+'s constituency is overwhelmingly Afrikaner white Protestants. But it appears to have made inroads among coloured conservatives.
One of the smaller parties to make ground in South Africa’s sixth democratic national and provincial elections is the Freedom Front Plus . As the last votes were being tallied the party was close to being in fifth place, with nearly 2.5% of the national vote – up from 0.9% in 2014.
In the 2019 election the FF+ returned to its 1994 support level, with 2.5% of the national vote. It did this by expanding firstly in the North West province to 4.4% of the provincial vote; in Gauteng to 3.8% of the provincial vote; and in the Free State to 4.1% of the total votes. They often referred to the Belgian arrangement of cultural councils as a model to be considered. Over time, the volkstaat policy has become less prominent. Since the 2016 local government election it has been redefining itself as a party for minorities – and not only Afrikaans-speaking white people.
Dirk Kotze: The FF+’s biggest support base is in Gauteng. It has very little support in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Most of its new supporters voted previously for the Democratic Alliance. The DA’s stance towards the decisions by the Universities of Pretoria and the North West about Afrikaans as a language of tuition is mentioned as an example of that party’s indifference to their interests.
In 1994 the FF+ received significant support at a time of uncertainty during the transition. The latest return to the same levels of support might be an indication of a similar sense of uncertainty about identity issues such as Afrikaans as a language, as well as race-related issues.
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