The 2007 floor crossing window period in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
was a period of 15 days, from 1 to 15 September 2007, in which members of the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
and the
provincial legislatures, and
municipal council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...
s were able to
cross the floor
In some parliamentary systems (e.g., in Canada and the United Kingdom), politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a political party different from the one they were initially elected under. I ...
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
The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the human rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of t ...
, 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, and a previous window period had occurred in September 2005.
In the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures, the changes were minor, with the most significant development being the creation of the
African People's Convention
The African People's Convention (APC) is a South African political party formed by Themba Godi, former deputy leader of the Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) via floor-crossing legislation, on 4 September 2007. Godi defected along with ...
by departing members of the
Pan Africanist Congress
The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, often shortened to the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), is a South African pan-Africanist national liberation movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert So ...
.
The tables below show all the changes; in those provinces not listed there was no change in the provincial legislature.
Tables
National Assembly
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Party
!Seats before
!Net change
!Seats after
, -
,
, 293
, +4
, 297
, -
,
, 47
, 0
, 47
, -
,
, 23
, 0
, 23
, -
,
, 6
, 0
, 6
, -
,
, 5
, −1
, 4
, -
,
, 4
, 0
, 4
, -
,
, 4
, 0
, 4
, -
, bgcolor="#eeeeee",
, style="text-align:left",
National Democratic Convention
, 4
, 0
, 4
, -
,
, 3
, 0
, 3
, -
,
, 2
, 0
, 2
, -
,
[Party created during this floor-crossing period.]
,
, +2
, 2
, -
,
, 3
, −2
, 1
, -
,
, 1
, 0
, 1
, -
, bgcolor="#eeeeee",
, style="text-align:left",
Federation of Democrats
, 1
, 0
, 1
, -
, bgcolor="#eeeeee",
, style="text-align:left",
National Alliance National Alliance may refer to:
Electoral alliances
*National Alliance (Egypt) (2015)
* National Alliance (Ireland) (2024 onwards)
* National Alliance (Pakistan) (2002-2004)
*Nation Alliance (Turkey) (2018-2023)
Political parties and organizations ...
,
, +1
, 1
, -
,
, 2
, −2
, 0
, -
, bgcolor="#eeeeee",
, style="text-align:left",
Progressive Independent Movement
, 1
, −1
, 0
, -
, bgcolor="#eeeeee",
, style="text-align:left",
United Party
, 1
, −1
, 0
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Total
!colspan="3" style="text-align:center", 400
Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Party
!Seats before
!Net change
!Seats after
, -
,
, 51
, +2
, 53
, -
,
, 5
, 0
, 5
, -
,
, 4
, 0
, 4
, -
,
,
, +1
, 1
, -
,
, 2
, −2
, 0
, -
,
, 1
, −1
, 0
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Total
!colspan="3" style="text-align:center", 63
Gauteng Provincial Legislature
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Party
!Seats before
!Net change
!Seats after
, -
,
, 51
, 0
, 51
, -
,
, 12
, +1
, 13
, -
,
, 2
, 0
, 2
, -
,
, 1
, +1
, 2
, -
,
, 1
, +1
, 2
, -
,
, 1
, 0
, 1
, -
, bgcolor="#eeeeee",
, style="text-align:left",
Alliance of Free Democrats
The Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party (, , SZDSZ ) was a liberal political party in Hungary.
The SZDSZ was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and of Liberal International. It drew its su ...
, 1
, 0
, 1
, -
,
,
, +1
, 1
, -
, bgcolor="#eeeeee",
, style="text-align:left",
Federal Alliance
, 2
, −2
, 0
, -
,
, 1
, −1
, 0
, -
,
, 1
, −1
, 0
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Total
!colspan="3" style="text-align:center", 73
KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Party
!Seats before
!Net change
!Seats after
, -
,
, 40
, +1
, 41
, -
,
, 27
, 0
, 27
, -
,
, 5
, 0
, 5
, -
, bgcolor="#eeeeee",
, style="text-align:left",
National Democratic Convention
, 4
, −1
, 3
, -
,
, 2
, 0
, 2
, -
,
, 1
, 0
, 1
, -
,
, 1
, 0
, 1
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Total
!colspan="3" style="text-align:center", 80
Limpopo Provincial Legislature
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Party
!Seats before
!Net change
!Seats after
, -
,
, 45
, +1
, 46
, -
,
, 2
, −1
, 1
, -
,
, 1
, 0
, 1
, -
,
, 1
, 0
, 1
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Total
!colspan="3" style="text-align:center", 49
Northern Cape Provincial Legislature
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Party
!Seats before
!Net change
!Seats after
, -
,
, 24
, +1
, 25
, -
,
, 3
, −1
, 2
, -
,
, 1
, 0
, 1
, -
,
, 1
, 0
, 1
, -
,
, 1
, 0
, 1
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Total
!colspan="3" style="text-align:center", 30
Western Cape Provincial Parliament
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Party
!Seats before
!Net change
!Seats after
, -
,
, 24
, +3
, 27
, -
,
, 13
, −2
, 11
, -
,
, 2
, 0
, 2
, -
,
, 2
, −1
, 1
, -
,
, 1
, 0
, 1
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Total
!colspan="3" style="text-align:center", 42
National Council of Provinces
The
National Council of Provinces
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the post-apartheid constitution of South Africa, constitution which came into full effect in 1997. It replaced the former Senate of South Africa# ...
was reconstituted as a result of the changes in the provincial legislatures. Its reconstituted makeup was as follows:
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Party
!style="text-align:left", Delegate type
!
EC
!
FS
!
G
!
KZN
!
L
!
M
!
NW
!
NC
!
WC
!colspan=2, ''Total''
, -
, style="width: 4px" bgcolor= rowspan=2,
, style="text-align: left;" scope="row" rowspan=2 ,
, style="text-align:left", Permanent
, 4
, 4
, 4
, 3
, 5
, 5
, 4
, 4
, 3
, ''36''
, rowspan=2, ''68''
, -
, style="text-align:left", Special
, 4
, 4
, 3
, 2
, 4
, 4
, 4
, 4
, 3
, ''32''
, -
, style="width: 4px" bgcolor= rowspan=2,
, style="text-align: left;" scope="row" rowspan=2 ,
, style="text-align:left", Permanent
, 1
, 1
, 1
, 1
, 1
, 1
, 1
, 1
, 2
, ''10''
, rowspan=2, ''12''
, -
, style="text-align:left", Special
,
,
, 1
,
,
,
,
,
, 1
, ''2''
, -
, style="width: 4px" bgcolor= rowspan=2,
, style="text-align: left;" scope="row" rowspan=2 ,
, style="text-align:left", Permanent
,
,
, 1
, 2
,
,
,
,
,
, ''3''
, rowspan=2, ''4''
, -
, style="text-align:left", Special
,
,
,
, 1
,
,
,
,
,
, ''1''
, -
,
, style="text-align:left", Permanent
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, 1
, colspan=2, ''1''
, -
,
, style="text-align:left", Permanent
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, 1
,
, colspan=2, ''1''
, -
,
, style="text-align:left", Permanent
,
, 1
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, colspan=2, ''1''
, -
,
, style="text-align:left", Permanent
,
,
,
,
,
,
, 1
,
,
, colspan=2, ''1''
, -
,
, style="text-align:left", Permanent
, 1
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, colspan=2, ''1''
, -
, bgcolor="#eeeeee",
, style="text-align:left",
National Democratic Convention
, style="text-align:left", Special
,
,
,
, 1
,
,
,
,
,
, colspan=2, ''1''
, -style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="3" style="text-align:left", Total
!10
!10
!10
!10
!10
!10
!10
!10
!10
!colspan=2, ''90''
Notes to the tables
National floor crossings
From PAC to APC
*
Themba Godi
Nelson Themba Godi (born 10 August 1966) is a South African politician and a former member of the National Assembly. As deputy parliamentary leader of the Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania, he was suspended by PAC's president, Motsoko Pheko, in S ...
*
Mofihli Likotsi
Provincial floor crossings
Eastern Cape
From PAC to APC
*
Zingisa Mkhabile
Western Cape
From UIF to DA
*
Elizabeth Thompson (politician)
From DA to ANC
*
Kent Morkel
Kent Hercules Morkel is a retired South African politician and the son of the late politician Gerald Morkel. He served as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. He is a member of the African National Congress (ANC). He was a member ...
*
Kobus Brynard
Gauteng
From PAC to APC
*
Malesela Ledwaba
Municipal floor crossings
City of Cape Town
From DA to NPP
*
David Sasman
See also
*
Floor crossing (South Africa)
Floor crossing was a system introduced to the post-apartheid South African political system in 2002, under which members of Parliament, members of provincial legislatures and local government councillors could change political party (or form a ne ...
*
2003 South African floor-crossing window period
*
2005 South African floor-crossing window period
References
{{Reflist
History of political parties in South Africa
2007 in South Africa
September 2007 in Africa
Party switching
2007 in politics