31 August 2007
The floor-crossing window period for municipal councillors will run from
tomorrow, 1 September to Saturday, 15 September 2007 at midnight.
In terms of item 1 of schedule 6B of the Constitution when a councillor
changes party membership or if an independent councillor joins a party, they
lose their seats. Item 2 and 3 of schedule 6B of the Constitution creates an
exception to this rule and allows a councillor to change party membership by
crossing the floor during the window period and still retain his or her seat in
the council provided he or she meets all the requirements stipulated in the
schedule. It also allows a party, during that period, to merge with another or
to subdivide into more than one party or to subdivide and any one subdivision
to merge with another party.
Municipal councillors who cross the floor and political parties which have
entered into mergers or subdivisions should inform the Chief Electoral Officer
(CEO) of their decision in writing within the window period of 15 days,
otherwise they lose their seats.
Categories � Who qualifies to cross the floor
* Proportional Representation (PR) Councillors
A PR councillor is allowed to cross the floor and join another party, and
his or her seat then becomes the PR seat of the new party. A PR councillor
cannot cross the floor to become an independent councillor because he /she was
elected to the council as a party candidate � he/she can only join another
party.
* Ward Councillors
A ward councillor of a party can cross the floor from the party that
nominated him/her and either join another party or become an independent. In
this instance the ward is then regarded as being allocated to the new party or
to the independent. Similarly, an independent councillor can join a party and
become a ward councillor for that party, and then the ward will belong to that
party.
Conditions and requirements for councillors
In order to change membership and retain the seat, certain conditions and
requirements must be complied with. Failure to do so may result in the
councillor losing his/her seat. The conditions and requirements include:
* Crossing the floor within the window period
The councillor can only cross the floor during the window period which
starts on 1 September until and including 15 September 2007.
* Only one crossing is allowed
To retain his/her seat, a councillor is only allowed to cross the floor once
during the specified window period. In other words, once the CEO has been
informed that the councillor has crossed the floor, that councillor cannot move
back again or change membership to another party without losing his/her
seat.
* Ten percent (10%) requirement
A councillor (PR or Ward Councillor) can only leave a party to join another
party or become an independent councillor if the councillors leaving the
original party together constitute at least 10% of the total number of seats
held by that party in the council. If the 10% result in fractions, no rounding
down will apply. Thus, as example, if the original party has eleven seats in
that council, then 10% of 11 seats equals 1,1 , which means then one councillor
crossing has not satisfied the requirement, but two or more councillors
crossing would.
* Acceptance of membership
If the councillor is joining another party, then the party he/she is joining
must confirm in writing that the councillor has been accepted as a member of
the party. A councillor can only cross the floor to join a party which is
already registered with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
* The Chief Electoral Officer must be informed in writing at the national
Office of the Electoral Commission in Pretoria within the 15-day window
period.
Merging, subdivision of existing parties
A party which merges or subdivides during the window period must inform the
CEO of the councillors affected by such merger or subdivision, and that it (the
party) has accepted the merger. In the case of a subdivision, the councillors
in the subdivision leaving the original party must represent not less than 10
percent of the total number of seats held by the original party in that
Council.
Notice to the Chief Electoral Officer
Notices may be hand delivered to the national office of the IEC situated at
Election House, 260 Walker Street, Sunnyside, Pretoria, or faxed to the
following fax number: 012 428 5279.
Pro-forma notices are available at the local offices of the IEC or from the
IEC website www.elections.org.za.
NB: It remains the responsibility of each councillor who crosses the floor
to ensure that the notice is received by the CEO at the National Office in
Pretoria.
Protection of councillors � Moratorium on suspensions/ expulsions
The Constitution provides protection to the councillors who cross the floor
within the window period. In terms of item 4(2) (c) of the schedule, no party
represented on a council may during the window period, suspend or terminate the
party membership of a councillor representing that party in that council, or
perform any act whatsoever which may cause such a councillor to be disqualified
from holding office as such a councillor in that municipality.
Notice in the Government Gazette
Once the Chief Electoral Officer has received all the notices from the
councillors who have crossed the floor or from parties that have merged or
subdivided, the Electoral Commission will then publish a notice in the
Government Gazette.
For media queries please contact:
Lydia Young
Cell: 082 650 8652
Issued by: Independent Electoral Commission
31 August 2007
