How to read the scores
AI analysis assigns a numerical score from -2 to +2 based on the party's stance relative to state control vs. free market, or opposition vs. support for a specific policy reform.
Policy Commitments
Filter by category to explore specific policy proposals.
The FF Plus strongly advocates for the restoration and decentralization of local government, emphasizing subsidiarity where authority is exercised at the lowest possible level. They propose re-demarcating municipal boundaries to create smaller, more community-focused municipalities. They are vehemently against cadre deployment, promoting merit-based appointments and the active eradication of corruption through prosecution and specialized investigating units for municipal officials.
Key Proposals
- Restore local government and establish independent communities as building blocks.
- Rebuild with a smaller, nimbler government without corruption, with appointments based on merit.
- Facilitate the decentralisation of government (devolution of power) to provinces, municipalities, and community councils.
- Re-demarcate municipal areas to reduce their size and devolve service delivery closer to communities.
- Each local municipality should govern a single town.
- Criminally prosecute municipal officials responsible for corruption, fraud, or environmental pollution.
- Establish special investigating units for unlawful activities of municipal officials.
The FF Plus advocates for a decentralized, parent- and community-driven education system, prioritizing mother-tongue education and the right to choose between public, independent, or home-schooling via an educational coupon system. They oppose the BELA Bill, which centralizes power, and propose an independent education regulator. They support establishing community schools and empowering community councils to act as education departments, with a focus on quality and international competitiveness.
Key Proposals
- Offer mother-tongue education up to the highest possible level.
- Subsidise learners rather than schools through an educational coupon system, allowing parents choice.
- Establish community schools with support from relevant authorities.
- Replace the BELA Bill, which centralizes power over language, religion, and admission policies.
- Maintain a high standard of education that is internationally competitive.
- Separate the functions of providing education and regulating education, proposing an independent regulator.
- Enable private and home-schools to provide quality and cost-effective education.
- Afford community councils the right to act as an education department across provincial boundaries.
The FF Plus strongly advocates for the complete privatization and unbundling of Eskom, promoting a deregulated and competitive energy sector. They prioritize a large-scale transition to renewable energy, encouraging local power supply and micro-grids through tax incentives for alternative energy sources. They also propose buying surplus electricity from households and businesses at competitive tariffs and upgrading the transmission grid.
Key Proposals
- Prioritise the use of renewable energy.
- De-regulate the electricity sector to allow for competition between electricity suppliers.
- Unbundle Eskom completely and privatise the separate entities.
- Offer tax rebates for individuals and businesses that make use of alternative energy sources.
- Surplus electricity generated by households and businesses should be bought at competitive tariffs.
- Utilise under-developed parts of South Africa for harvesting renewable energy and upgrade the transmission grid.
- Amend legislation to declare electricity theft a statutory offence and prosecute illegal consumers.
- Effectively secure electricity infrastructure to prevent sabotage and cable theft.
The FF Plus acknowledges the critical need for housing but criticizes current government schemes for corruption and inefficiency. They advocate for the effective utilization of unused state-owned land for housing, with beneficiaries receiving title deeds. They strongly oppose expropriation without compensation and emphasize protecting private property rights, while also calling for addressing illegal land occupation and promoting innovative housing developments with modern spatial planning.
Key Proposals
- Use unused state-owned land for land reform and housing.
- Beneficiaries of land reform should actually own the land and receive title deeds.
- Protect private property rights and scrap the draft Expropriation Bill.
- Expropriation for public use should be accompanied by market-related compensation and decided by a High Court.
- Stop illegal land occupation.
- Maintain a balance between housing, conservation areas, property value, and agricultural land through innovative and modern housing projects.
The FF Plus strongly advocates for strict and effective border control to prevent the influx of illegal immigrants, who they claim put immense pressure on resources and services. They believe immigration should be managed to benefit the country by attracting skilled individuals and call for decisive action against corrupt officials and the movement of illegal goods across borders. While not explicitly mentioning spaza shop regulations, their stance on illegal immigration and protecting the local economy implies a restrictive approach to foreign-owned businesses.
Key Proposals
- Ensure effective border control that restores the integrity of the country's borders.
- Take decisive action against corrupt officials involved in border control.
- Stop the movement of drugs, rhino horns, and illegal weapons across borders.
- Address illegal immigration, as it puts pressure on water resources, healthcare, job opportunities, and social services.
- Immigration should be managed to ensure immigrants possess scarce knowledge and skills beneficial to the recipient country.
The FF Plus acknowledges the justification for social grants but aims to reduce dependence on them by fostering economic growth and financial independence through a free-market system. They advocate for community-based social services as the most effective form of poverty relief, rather than expanding state-provided indigent benefits. The focus is on empowering communities and individuals to become self-sufficient and contribute to economic growth.
Key Proposals
- Reduce dependence on social grants by creating favourable economic circumstances that promote financial independence and wealth.
- Promote community-based social services as the most effective form of poverty relief.
- Transform the population from one dependent on social grants to one that drives economic growth.
The FF Plus advocates for a tough-on-crime approach, emphasizing professional policing, merit-based appointments, and the eradication of political interference and corruption within the police service. They support the right to self-defence with firearms, prioritize rural safety (including farm attacks), and propose specialized units for violent crime, illegal firearms, drug trafficking, and organized crime. They also suggest tax deductibility for private security expenditure and empowering private rural safety networks.
Key Proposals
- Restore the integrity and functionality of the police service by getting rid of corrupt members and making merit-based appointments.
- Establish an effective crime intelligence unit to prevent crime.
- Protect competent citizens' right to own a firearm for self-defence.
- Declare farm attacks a priority crime and allocate adequate resources to rural safety, involving and empowering private rural safety networks.
- Establish specialised units to address violent crime and the illegal firearms trade.
- Create prosecution-driven crime investigating units (Scorpions) to prosecute organised crime, child and human trafficking.
- Make private expenditure on safety and security tax deductible.
The FF Plus strongly opposes the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, deeming it unconstitutional and unviable. They advocate for a healthcare system that prioritizes preventive care, upgrades public healthcare infrastructure, and is managed by experts. They propose a mutually beneficial partnership between the public and private healthcare sectors, with state hospitals and clinics potentially run by private service providers, to ensure accessible and quality healthcare for all, especially the poor.
Key Proposals
- Stop the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill immediately.
- Upgrade public healthcare infrastructure and appoint experts and good managers.
- Stop the over-regulation of the medical aid industry.
- Establish a mutually beneficial partnership between private and public medical service providers.
- Focus on preventive primary healthcare.
- State hospitals and clinics should be run by private service providers.
The FF Plus advocates for a free-market approach to local economic development, asserting that government should not create jobs but rather facilitate an environment for private sector investment. They propose abolishing Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and Affirmative Action (AA), reducing regulations, amending rigid labour laws, and lowering taxes to stimulate economic growth. Their focus is on empowering individuals through skills and education, and establishing Special Economic Zones.
Key Proposals
- Abolish Black Economic Empowerment and Affirmative Action policies, focusing on skills development and quality education.
- Do away with needless regulations that hinder business enterprises.
- Amend rigid labour legislation to promote sustainable job creation and prevent unfair labour practices.
- Lower personal and company tax to stimulate investment and job creation.
- Expand and consolidate Special Economic Zones, exempting them from regulations.
- Encourage the private sector to appoint the best person for the job to promote economic growth.
- Develop independent local economies and offer community-based social services.
The FF Plus strongly opposes Expropriation Without Compensation (EWC) and advocates for the protection of private property rights. They believe there is sufficient land for redistribution, but it should be done based on the "willing seller, willing buyer" principle, utilizing unused state-owned land first. Any expropriation for public use must be accompanied by market-related compensation and decided by a high court. They also emphasize beneficiaries receiving title deeds and stopping illegal land occupation.
Key Proposals
- Protect private property rights and scrap the draft Expropriation Bill.
- Abolish the concept of expropriating property at "nil compensation".
- Redistribute land already obtained through Land Reform and unused state-owned land immediately.
- Follow the principle of "willing seller, willing buyer" for future land redistribution.
- Expropriation for public use must be accompanied by market-related compensation and the power to expropriate should reside with a High Court.
- Beneficiaries of land reform should receive title deeds.
- Finalise land claims as soon as possible to reduce uncertainty.
The FF Plus identifies public roads, bridges, and public transport systems as essential infrastructure that government should construct and maintain. They propose dedicating the fuel levy solely to road and transport infrastructure development. The manifesto does not provide specific details on municipal transport networks or address the role of minibus taxis, focusing more on the underlying infrastructure.
Key Proposals
- Construct and maintain public roads, bridges, and public transport systems as a government function.
- Decrease the fuel levy and use it only for road and other transport infrastructure development.
- Do away with the Road Accident Fund (RAF) and replace it with legislation compelling motor vehicle owners to take out third-party insurance.
The FF Plus's national ideology is rooted in promoting self-determination for communities, recognizing diversity as an asset, and establishing a decentralized, federal political order. They strongly oppose race-based legislation like BEE and Affirmative Action, advocating for meritocracy and equal opportunities based on socio-economic need rather than race. They aim to keep the ANC and EFF out of power, rebuild with a smaller, corruption-free government, and support initiatives like Capexit, while also protecting indigenous languages and pursuing a foreign policy based on mutual respect.
Key Proposals
- Promote communities' constitutional right to self-determination, including supporting initiatives like Capexit.
- Establish a political order based on Christian values, justice, truth, and peaceful coexistence.
- Abolish legislation that discriminates based on skin colour, such as Affirmative Action and Black Economic Empowerment.
- Establish a smaller, central government with a diminished role in citizens' lives, and restore local government.
- Transform South Africa from a territorial state to a state where communities are the fundamental units, promoting federalism and devolution of power.
- Keep the ANC and EFF out of power in national and local governments.
- Recognise and cherish diversity, including respect for all communities' languages, symbols, historical names, and heritage.
- Condemn language imperialism and promote the development of all indigenous languages, especially mother-tongue education.
The FF Plus attributes the collapse of municipal service delivery to ANC mismanagement and cadre deployment. They advocate for a free-market approach where businesses provide public services competitively, and propose tax rebates for communities that step in to fulfill government functions. They emphasize upgrading existing water and sewage infrastructure, compelling municipalities to record water usage, and allocating conditional grants for these upgrades.
Key Proposals
- Services should be provided by the free market through competitive businesses.
- Offer tax rebates to individuals and businesses who fulfil government functions, such as repairing potholes and ensuring safety and security.
- Upgrade sewage treatment plants and dumping sites, allocating conditional grants to municipalities for this purpose.
- Install drainage nets on storm water drainage pipes to prevent pollution of water resources.
- Limit water losses by modernizing water management, investing in infrastructure, and identifying leakages.
- Compel municipalities to keep thorough records of water purchases, distribution, and sales.