Freedom Front Plus calls for minorities to band together
With strong Afrikaner Calvinistic principles, the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) is vying to dethrone the ruling ANC after the party's manifesto launch at the weekend.
Dr Pieter Mulder, leader of the party, said working together would be the only way to beat the ANC.
He also emphasised that Afrikaners should work more cohesively with other minority groups in South Africa, such as the Khoi and San.
By banding with these groups, the party hopes to bring forth a new opposition group in South Africa that is not based on skin colour, but rather a collective group of minorities.
According to Mulder, fragmented minority groups face oppression in South Africa, and there needs to be a solution to ensure no one faces unjust exercise of authority from the ruling party. According to him, banding together would prevent this.
“There is room for everybody in this country. Our re-worded vision not only wants to motivate Afrikaners but other minority groups [too]. Together we have one goal – to beat the ANC,” Mulder said.
Strong criticism against the ANC was that there was an unfair measure of privilege for the majority group in South Africa, and that the majority ‘dictates’ to minority groups.
“It is important to bring change, where acknowledgment is given to diversity in the country and its people. FFplus is committed to working with other communities [in South Africa].”
“We ask for better dispensation for the Afrikaner, but we also fight for the same rights for other minorities,” Mulder said.
However, in comparison to opposition parties such as the DA and EFF, which gained mammoth traction on social media, newspapers and TV channels, the FF+ manifesto fell somewhat flat.
Mulder said, with veiled critisem, that Afrikaans daily newspaper Beeld did not extensively cover the party’s manifesto on 10 March.
In a conversation with Beeld editor Adriaan Basson on Twitter, Mulder said, “Omdat ons en ander Christene nie soos [die] DA en ANC op Sondae politiek bedryf nie, straf Beeld ons. Dit is jammer.” (“Because we [Afrikaners] and other Christians don’t discuss politics on Sunday, unlike the ANC and the DA, Beeld is punishing us. It’s a pity.”)
This complaint arose from the FF+ due to little focus on their manifesto launch in the Monday edition of the newspaper.
Basson diplomatically responded that Mulder was welcome to write about their manifesto, and that he had an open-door policy.
