NFP to contest under newly-formed SARA in 2024
The National Freedom Party, African Amalgamated Restorative Movement, as well as the Independent Citizens Movement are among parties that will contest under the united banner of SARA.
JOHANNESBURG - The National Freedom Party (NFP) says it will sacrifice its spot on the ballot paper in the 2024 general elections, as the party rallies behind the South African Rainbow Alliance (SARA).
This comes after a faction within the NFP joined the voting bloc of minority parties, now led by former Congress of the People (COPE) member Colleen Makhubele.
While the alliance is yet to register as a political party with the electoral commission – it has announced plans to join a plethora of other parties vying for power.
The NFP, African Amalgamated Restorative Movement (AARM), as well as the Independent Citizens Movement (ICM) are among parties that will contest under the united banner of SARA.
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But NFP general secretary Canaan Mdletshe said this doesn’t spell the end of the party’s independence.
“In fact, the NFP is rebranding, it is reviving, it is evolving. When the opportunity came for us to be part of SARA, we said we are not going to miss this opportunity because it gives us a platform to work with like-minded political parties.
“But 2024 going forward, we are going to decide as the alliance where we are going to after the elections. But the reality is, South Africa needs political parties to come together and work together.”
Also speaking at a media briefing in Sandton on Wednesday, leader of ICM Joe Mojapelo told journalists that banding smaller parties together challenges the status quo.
“2019 elections were contested by 48 parties, how many parties are in Parliament? 14. What happened to the 34 parties? They eat dust – they never lived to tell the story, at a huge cost and one of those costs is 309,000 wasted votes.
“I feel sorry for the people that voted for those parties because their votes were wasted and that is to the advantage of the bigger parties.”
