2005 South African floor-crossing window period

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The 2005 floor crossing window period in South Africa was a period of 15 days, from 1 to 15 September 2005, in which members of the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures were able to cross the floor from one political party to another without giving up their seats. The period was authorised by the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of South Africa, [1] which scheduled regular window periods in the second and fourth September after each election. The previous general election had been held on 14 April 2004.

Contents

In the National Assembly, the floor-crossing expanded the African National Congress' (ANC) representation from 279 to 293 seats, giving it control of almost three-quarters of the 400-member house. Other existing parties mainly lost seats, with several entirely new parties being created; still-existing parties created in 2005 include the National Democratic Convention

Seven of the nine provincial legislatures were also affected, with only the Free State and North West legislatures remaining unchanged. In both the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature and the Western Cape Provincial Parliament the ANC received enough members to move from a plurality to an absolute majority; in KwaZulu-Natal it gained two members to control 40 of the 80 seats, while in the Western Cape it gained five, to give it 24 of the 42 seats.

This window period also saw the final demise of the New National Party, in which all its members crossed the floor, mostly to become ANC representatives.

The tables below show all the changes; in those provinces not listed there was no change in the provincial legislature.

Tables

National Assembly

PartySeats beforeNet changeSeats after [2]
ANC 279+14293
DA 50−347
IFP 28−523
UDM 9−36
ID 7−25
ACDP 7−34
VF+ 404
National Democratic Convention [note 1] +44
PAC 303
UCDP 303
MF 202
United Independent Front [note 1] +22
AZAPO 101
Federation of Democrats [note 1] +11
Progressive Independent Movement [note 1] +11
United Party [note 1] +11
NNP [note 2] 7−7
Total400

Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature

PartySeats beforeNet changeSeats after [3]
ANC 51051
DA 505
UDM 6−24
United Independent Front [note 1] +22
PAC 101
Total63

Gauteng Provincial Legislature

PartySeats beforeNet changeSeats after [3]
ANC 51051
DA 15−312
IFP 202
Federal Alliance 0+22
ACDP 101
VF+ 101
ID 101
PAC 101
Alliance of Free Democrats [note 1] +11
United Independent Front [note 1] +11
UDM 1−10
Total73

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature

PartySeats beforeNet changeSeats after [3]
ANC 38+240
IFP 30−327
DA 7−25
National Democratic Convention [note 1] +44
MF 202
ACDP 2−11
UDM 101
Total80

Limpopo Provincial Legislature

PartySeats beforeNet changeSeats after [3]
ANC 45045
DA 202
ACDP 101
United Independent Front [note 1] +11
UDM 1−10
Total49

Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature

PartySeats beforeNet changeSeats after [3]
ANC 27027
DA 202
Christian Party [note 1] +11
VF+ 1−10
Total30

Northern Cape Provincial Parliament

PartySeats beforeNet changeSeats after [3]
ANC 21+324
DA 303
ID 2−11
ACDP 101
VF+ 101
NNP [note 2] 2−2
Total30

Western Cape Provincial Parliament

PartySeats beforeNet changeSeats after [3]
ANC 19+524
DA 12+113
ACDP 202
United Independent Front [note 1] +22
ID 3−21
UDM 1−10
NNP [note 2] 5−5
Total42

National Council of Provinces

The National Council of Provinces was reconstituted as a result of the changes in the provincial legislatures. Its reconstituted makeup was as follows: [4]

PartyDelegate type EC FS G KZN L M NW NC WC Total
ANC Permanent4443554433668
Special44324444332
DA Permanent1111111121012
Special112
IFP Permanent1234
Special11
ID Permanent11
VF+ Permanent11
UCDP Permanent11
UDM Permanent11
United Independent Front [note 1] Permanent11
National Democratic Convention [note 1] Special11
Total10101010101010101090

Notes to the tables

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Party created during this floor-crossing period.
  2. 1 2 3 The New National Party officially dissolved itself during this floor-crossing period, with most of its representatives becoming African National Congress representatives.

See also

References

  1. Constitution Tenth Amendment Act of 2003
  2. "Political Parties in National Assembly". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. Archived from the original on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 John Kane-Berman; et al. (2008). South Africa Survey 2007/08. South African Institute of Race Relations. p. 649.
  4. John Kane-Berman; et al. (2008). South Africa Survey 2007/08. South African Institute of Race Relations. p. 647.