Editing Freedom Front Plus (section)

===Origins as the Freedom Front (1994{{ndash}}2003)===
The Freedom Front was founded on 1 March 1994 by members of the [[Afrikaners|Afrikaner community]] under [[Constand Viljoen]], after he had left the [[Afrikaner Volksfront]] amidst disagreements. Seeking to achieve his goals through electoral means, Viljoen registered the Freedom Front with the [[Independent Electoral Commission (South Africa)|Independent Electoral Commission]] (IEC) on 4 March 1994 to take part in the April [[South African general election, 1994|1994 general elections]] (This date has also been given as 7 March).{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} On 12 March 1994 Viljoen handed in a list of candidates for the FF to the IEC, confirming that his party would take part in the elections.

In the election, under the leadership of Viljoen, the Freedom Front received 2.2% of the national vote (with 424,555 votes cast), earning nine seats in the [[National Assembly of South Africa|National Assembly]], and 3.3% (with 639,643 votes cast) of the combined vote to the nine provincial legislatures. This suggested that many Afrikaners had split their vote. The party performed the best in the rural areas of the former [[Transvaal Province|Transvaal]] and [[Orange Free State Province|Orange Free State]], and was noted by the new deputy president [[Thabo Mbeki]] as representing possibly as much as half the Afrikaner voting population in these areas, with the strongest support among farmers and the working class.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politicsweb.co.za/news-and-analysis/unmandated-reflections--thabo-mbeki|title=Unmandated reflections - Thabo Mbeki - NEWS & ANALYSIS - Politicsweb|website=www.politicsweb.co.za|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918070650/http://www.politicsweb.co.za/news-and-analysis/unmandated-reflections--thabo-mbeki|archive-date=18 September 2016}}</ref>

Freedom Front support gradually eroded in the coming years, as the party was strung along in ultimately fruitless negotiations with the [[African National Congress]] (ANC) to create a [[Volkstaat]] making the party lose its importance. It would also receive increased competition from new parties such as the [[Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging]]. In the [[South African general election, 1999|1999 election]] their support dropped to 0.8% (127,217 votes cast) with three seats in the National Assembly and between 1 and 2% in its stronghold provinces. This represented a respectable portion of the Afrikaner vote, but nowhere near earlier levels. The party's support remained relatively stable in all national elections held during the next twenty years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dhawraj |first=Ronesh |date=2024-02-29 |title=OPINION: Electoral data points to FF+ doing even better in 2024 polls |url=https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/opinion-electoral-data-points-to-ff-doing-even-better-in-2024-polls |access-date=2024-08-23 |website=Voice of the Cape |language=en-GB}}</ref>

In 2001, Viljoen retired and [[Pieter Mulder]] was elected as leader.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cape |first=Voice of the |date=2016-11-14 |title=Stepping down as FF Plus leader was imperative: Mulder |url=https://www.vocfm.co.za/stepping-down-as-ff-plus-leader-was-imperative-mulder/ |access-date=2024-08-23 |website=Voice of the Cape |language=en-GB}}</ref>