19 September 2007
The third floor-crossing window period for municipal councils since the 2000
municipal elections expired on Saturday, 15 September at midnight. Most of the
notifications were received in the first couple of days, but thereafter was a
steady flow until the cut-off point, the Chairperson of the Electoral
Commission (IEC), Dr Brigalia Bam, said in Pretoria today, 19 September.
"A total of 250 municipal councillors crossed the floor successfully in this
period affecting the composition of 128 municipalities," said Dr Bam. Twelve
new political parties were registered since June this year: Christian
Democratic Alliance, Federal Congress, National Alliance, Social Democratic
Party, National People's Party, People's Democratic Movement, African People's
Convention, New Vision Party, Civic Alliance of South Africa, South African
Political Party, Federal African Convention and the Eden Forum. All the parties
are registered nationally, except for the Eden Forum which is registered
municipally.
The Chief Electoral Officer, Advocate Pansy Tlakula said in reference to the
number of councillors (250) who crossed the floor that the three parties with
the largest net gain were:
* African National Congress with 53
* African People's Convention with 36
* National People's Party with 31
In terms of loss, the three parties with the biggest net loss were:
* Pan African Congress of South Africa with 41
* Independent Democrats with 27
* National Democratic Convention with 22
Advocate Tlakula said that in terms of the new parties that were registered
since June this year, the following four gained the most:
* African People's Convention with 36
* National People's Party with 31
* Federal African Congress with nine
* Federal Congress with nine
Of the 128 municipalities affected by floor crossing, the province that had
the most affected municipalities was KwaZulu-Natal with 27 followed by the
Western Cape with 22 and the Eastern Cape with 15.
There was a majority shift in 12 municipalities. Of those, five were in
KwaZulu-Natal and five in the Western Cape. In five municipalities the African
National Congress now has the majority while the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP),
the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the National People's Party each has the
majority in one and in four municipalities there are no majority.
"There was only one merger of political parties. The merger took place in
Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape between the Congress Movement of the
Coloured People in South Africa and the United Democratic Movement," said
Advocate Tlakula.
Thirty of the applicants were not successful. Of these, three councillors
did not meet the 10% requirement, four councillors crossed more than once, one
councillor crossed prior to the floor-crossing window period while another
indicated his intention to become an independent candidate and 21 were not
councillors. In instances where councillors did not comply with the regulations
they will lose their seats. The Public Relations (PR) vacancies will be filled
by the party while for the ward vacancies by-elections will be held.
"Overall trends that emerged during the floor-crossing included councillors
moving from existing smaller parties to join bigger parties and independent
councillors (14) joining political parties," said Adv Tlakula. Dr Bam said that
in the first floor crossing at municipal level in 2002, there were a total of
555 councillors that crossed the floor. During that period the major impact of
the floor crossing was felt by the Democratic Alliance (DA) when councillors
were leaving the party to join the New National Party which represented 61% of
the total councillors who crossed the floor.
During the floor crossing period 1 to 15 September 2004, 486 municipal
councillors crossed the floor successfully which meant that a composition of
164 municipal councils were affected by floor crossing. In 2004 the party with
the most gains was the ANC followed by the Democratic Alliance and the
Independent Democrats. This period also saw the majority of councillors of the
New National Party leaving to join other parties.
Adv Tlakula said that in terms of the legislation, the Electoral Commission
will today publish notices in the Government Gazette on changes in the
composition of municipalities as a result of the crossing of the floor by
councillors to enable affected municipalities to convene their council meetings
within the prescribed seven-day period.
"These notices indicate the party affiliation of each councillor in the
affected municipalities," she said.
The following reports are available on the IEC website at http://www.elections.org.za:
2007 Floor-crossing: Government Gazette
2007 Floor-crossing Summary Reports:
* list of successful crossings
* shift report, national
* shift report, provincial
* current councillor status per party (national)
* non-compliance report
* change of majority report
* movement Report
The notice reflecting the composition of affected municipalities, General
Notice No 1204 was published in the Government Gazette No 30315 today, 19
September.
For media queries please contact:
Lydia Young
Cell: 082 650 8652
Issued by: Independent Electoral Commission
19 September 2007
