Malema gets his seat in the House

Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema casts his vote at the Mponegele Primary School voting station in Seshego, Limpopo. Picture: Matthews Baloyi

Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema casts his vote at the Mponegele Primary School voting station in Seshego, Limpopo. Picture: Matthews Baloyi

Published May 8, 2014

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Johannesburg - Julius Malema has secured his seat in Parliament, and was set to take at least five other seats in Parliament for his new party, the Economic Freedom Fighters.

 By midday on Thursday the African National Congress was leading in the fifth democratic elections with over four million counted votes nationally. The ANC had 4 800 185 which was 62.76 percent of the counted votes.

By 12pm, the official opposition Democratic Alliance had 1 759 824 votes, making up 23.01 percent of the counted vote.

Malema’s EFF was in third place so far with 362 063 votes making up 4.73 percent of the counted votes.

A political party needs about 47 000 votes for a seat in Parliament. This would mean that the EFF could get at least six seats so far in the National Assembly.

Earlier, The Star could not reach Malema for comment but he left a speech as his voicemail message.

“We are not sorry for the inconvenience of the beneficiaries of the system,” his message began.

“But this is a revolution, it is not a bed of roses, the struggle between the future and the past. We have refused to submit but chosen to fight for the economic freedom of our people and we shall overcome. Salute!”

Other debutante parties, such as Agang SA, the Workers and Socialist Party, and the Patriotic Alliance were not doing as well as the EFF.

Mamphela Ramphele's Agang had so far received only 15 785 votes, which at this stage did not qualify the party for a seat in Parliament. Sushi King Kenny Kunene's Patriotic Alliance received 9 547 votes nationally and Wasp 3 683.

The Inkatha Freedom Party at midday had 176 061 votes making up 2.30 percent of the total votes counted, while its break-away the National Freedom Party had 116 662 (1.53 percent).

The United Democratic Movement had 82 645 (1.08 percent), the Freedom Front Plus had 76,589 (one percent) of the vote, and the Congress of the People 60 003 (0.78 percent).

Other veterans of Parliament, such as the Pan Africanist Congress received 15 060 votes and the African Christian Democratic Party 42 827 votes.

A total of 7 648 948 votes had been counted so far.

Sapa and The Star

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