EFF eThekwini spokesperson Brian Blouse.
The EFF says early results show it has stopped losing support in eThekwini, as it looks to ward victories and participation in municipal government to rebuild voter trust.
This despite only polling at 1.94% of the votes by Thursday afternoon.
Speaking while more than 35% of the votes had been counted, EFF eThekwini spokesperson Brian Blouse said the party had anticipated further losses following the political developments and controversies surrounding the organisation in KwaZulu-Natal after the 2024 general elections.
However, Blouse said the preliminary results suggested the party had managed to stop losing further support.
"What was important for us was to stop losing support. We wanted to establish whether we were losing more votes or whether we had stopped losing support. It looks as if we have managed to stop the decline, and we are not losing further support," Blouse said.
He also pointed to the wards won by the EFF in different municipalities, including Ward 1 and Ward 6, saying the victories would give the party an opportunity to demonstrate its ability to govern.
The party hopes to use the opportunity to build public confidence and regain the trust of voters.
Asked whether the EFF had successfully communicated its message to communities, Blouse said the party had done its best and managed to retain support among young voters.
However, he acknowledged that the party continued to face a trust deficit, with some voters still questioning whether it could translate its activism and political promises into effective governance.
"We are a new organisation, fairly young, led by young people. You can see that community members still have that thing of saying, 'We see the EFF, you do good, you fight for us, but can we trust you with government?'" Blouse said.
He said the party understood that gaining voters' confidence would take time and that it was not entitled to their support.
"We need to gain the trust. We are not entitled to it. We need to work for it, and we are going to continue doing that going forward," Blouse said.
Blouse said having councillors and an opportunity to participate in governance would allow the EFF to demonstrate its approach to service delivery and use its performance in those municipalities as a foundation for rebuilding public trust.