Only six of 38 political parties have secured seats in the Free State legislature following a fierce contest during the 2024 national and provincial elections held on Wednesday, 29 May.
The two independent candidates Sesing Johannes Ramotswabodi and Louis Petrus Liebenberg were unsuccessful in their endeavours.
The parties, including the two independents, contested for 30 available seats in the provincial legislature, and their fate was decided by some of the roughly 1,4 million eligible registered voters who went out to vote on Wednesday. Votes were cast at the 129 voting stations in the province.
The following parties managed to secure multiple seats: the ANC (16 seats), DA (seven seats), and EFF (four seats). The FF Plus, ACT and MK each bagged one seat.
The ANC will continue to govern the Free State as decided by the voters, however, with a reduced number from 19 seats in the previous period of 2019.
The DA gained one seat, while both the EFF and FF Plus retained their respective amount of seats from the previous term.
The five political parties will be the opposition to the ruling ANC, which will govern without coalition.
In the Free State there were 11 newly formed parties that had registered to contest in this year’s provincial elections.
Of these newly founded parties, some had registered to contest in the Free State and Northern Cape, while the bigger parties such as the ANC, DA, EFF, Cope, and the PA contested countrywide.
The six parties that secured their seats in the provincial legislature are expected to announce their representatives soon.
