Origins as the Freedom Front (19942003) The Freedom Front was founded on 1 March 1994 by members of the
Afrikaner community under
Constand Viljoen, after he had left 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 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 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 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 the next twenty years. In 2001, Viljoen retired and
Pieter Mulder was elected as leader.
Formation of the FF+ and early years (20032016) 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 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, 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 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.
Groenewald leadership and resurgence (20162025) In 2016,
Pieter Groenewald took over leadership of the FF Plus. He oversaw 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 the party's candidate for premier of the Western Cape for the 2019 elections.
2019 national and provincial 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 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 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.
2021 municipal elections and aftermath 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 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 a city councilor in
Bela-Bela, becoming the first black South African to serve as a councilor from the FF Plus.
2024 election and Government of National Unity 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) also known as the
Third Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa. The leader of the FF Plus, Pieter Groenewald, became
Minister of Correctional Services in the new Cabinet. Following Groenewald's appointment, leadership changes occurred in the party's parliamentary caucus which saw
Corné Mulder succeed Groenewald as parliamentary leader and
Wouter Wessels succeed Mulder as chief whip. On 22 February 2025, Mulder was elected unopposed to succeed Groenewald as party leader after the latter chose not to seek re-election. However, Groenewald remained in his ministerial position.
Corné Mulder (2025present) Member of Parliament Dr.
Corné Mulder was elected uncontested as Leader at the party’s elective conference in Pretoria on 22 February 2025. On 25 March 2026 Dr. Mulder announced the merger of the
Referendum Party into the FF Plus. == Policies and ideology ==