FF+ results due to voters ‘dumping’ DA

THE change in Freedom Front Plus’ (FF+) fortunes at this year’s polls has been attributed to voters dumping the DA for its affirmative action and BEE policies.

The FF+ numbers nationally have vastly improved as the party garnered 360 973 votes by 5.30pm yesterday.

In 2014, the party accumulated up to 165 715 votes nationally and clinched only four seats in the National Assembly.

Duncan du Bois, FF+ Kwazulunatal (KZN) leader and premier candidate, said the increase signified more than an improvement.

“It is going on to more than triple what the party got last time.

“Last time they got 165 000 and that was an improvement on 2009 when they only had 145 000 or something like that.

“I think they were beneficiaries of people dumping the DA because of the DA’S policy on affirmative action and BEE and also because the FF

Plus is very clear on its land policy and the DA is not quite as sharp on that,” Du Bois said.

He said that although the DA was clear on the use of the current legislation on land reform, the FF Plus could have come across more strongly to the voters because it has a more Afrikaner backing and farmers directly connected to the land.

In KZN, the FF+ received above 9 000 votes compared to the 7 695 they received in 2014, and did not get a provincial legislature seat.

“We don’t have enough votes for a provincial legislature seat, but I didn’t really expect it.

“You need about 25 000 (votes for a seat), I would think. It’s too much to expect.

“In KZN we made some progress from the last time around because I had a lot of good media mileage that I generated,” said Du Bois.

He said today he would be looking to see which voting districts had improved both provincially and nationally as the IEC works to announce the final results. |