EFF leader Julius Malema has ruled out any possibility of the EFF working with the DA and the Freedom Front Plus in coalition talks, warning progressive forces that they must unite or perish.
Malema delivered the message in an EFF press briefing on Saturday following the 2026 local government elections, in which he blamed the ANC’s 2024 decision to form a Government of National Unity with the DA and FF Plus for legitimising what he called right-wing forces.
“The consolidation and success of white supremacy and right-wing forces in these 2026 Local Government Elections is not an accident of history,” Malema said.
“These forces were legitimised and endorsed by the former liberation movement through their inclusion in government following the 2024 Provincial and National Elections.”
Malema said the ANC’s pact with its historical enemies had made them legitimate leaders in the eyes of the people.
“It was that pact with the historical enemies of the people, and the awarding to them of critical ministries such as Home Affairs, Basic Education, Communications and Digital Technologies, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Public Works and Infrastructure, and Correctional Services, that made those who killed Chris Hani legitimate leaders in the eyes of our people,” he said.
He said the ANC had betrayed Chris Hani, Peter Mokaba and Winnie Mandela in 2024.
“The liberation movement betrayed Chris Hani, Peter Mokaba and Winnie Mandela in 2024, and betrayed what was taught to us by those who liberated us. By forming a government with the descendants and custodians of the legacy of De Klerk, Verwoerd and Botha, the former liberation movement cleaned the image of the murderers of Chris Hani, Solomon Mahlangu and Hector Pieterson, even before they accepted their apartheid sins and apologised for them,” Malema said.
He invoked Peter Mokaba’s warning against collaborating with F.W. de Klerk.
“It was Peter Mokaba, the Lion of the North, who said to us that we cannot go into bed with F.W. de Klerk, because you cannot collaborate with the enemy; the enemy must be crushed,” he said.
Malema said the ANC had told voters in 2024 that there was nothing wrong with parties that want to stop BEE, BELA and land expropriation without compensation.
“The former liberation movement said to our people following the 2024 elections, when forming the GNU, that there is nothing wrong with these people who want to stop BEE, BELA and land expropriation without compensation,” he said.
“The former liberation movement endorsed the right wing which wants to reverse the gains of 1994. It said to the people that municipalities run by them are better than municipalities run by us and said to the psychology of our people that a vote for them is as good as a vote for us.”
For the EFF, Malema said, there is no coalition path with the DA or FF Plus. The only path, he said, is a progressive front.
“Our message as the EFF to all progressive forces is simple: it is either we unite or perish,” he said. “We are at a point where we must not accept this revisionism.”
He warned that the pressure now is for the ANC to repeat what he called a self-destructive historical mistake in municipalities.
“The pressure now is for them to repeat this self-destructive historical mistake in our municipalities,” he said.
“This is a victory for those who went to the United States of America and claimed in the White House that there is a white genocide in South Africa, while denouncing the EFF. It is a victory for AfriForum, which controls who leads the Democratic Alliance by blackmailing them using their Afrikaner lobby. It is a victory for the Boeremag, who want to take this country back to apartheid.”
Malema said the DA and its allies had not won the metros outright, and there was still an opportunity to self-correct.
“Fortunately, they have not won these metros outright and there is still an opportunity to self-correct. There is still an opportunity to stop what is a clear anti-black and anti-progressive agenda, before we lose this country forever to white supremacy, backwardness and privatisation,” he said.
He said the outcomes of 2026 cannot be separated from the political decisions taken after the 2024 elections.
“The former liberation movement had the opportunity to choose progressive forces and the left to form government, but they allowed those who have infiltrated them to guide them towards white supremacy, and white supremacy has taken over our metros today using their endorsement,” he said.
“No one must ever claim there was never an alternative; the alternative was there, and they chose the enemy.”
Malema also confronted the EFF’s own setback. On provisional results, the EFF received 1.8 million votes, or 6.26%, compared to 2.4 million votes, or 10.31%, in 2021, with a provisional allocation of 467 seats.
“We have lost 612,326 votes nationally and moved from third to fourth place. That is the setback we must confront honestly,” he said.
But he pointed to ward gains as evidence the party was still growing where councillors are held accountable every day. In 2021 the EFF won 19 wards. In 2026 it won 37 wards, an increase of 18.
“A setback is not a defeat; it is an opportunity which gives us a moment to reflect on how to better present ourselves and our message of service delivery to the people,” he said.
Malema said the EFF would take stock ward by ward, municipality by municipality and province by province, and use the election to prepare for the 2029 provincial and national elections.
“We’ve come too far to let a setback define the end of our journey. Let’s regroup, reassess, and draw strength from within to fight again,” he said.
“No one must write our epitaph, because we write our own stories.”