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 In the Western Cape province of South Africa, Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) is the designation given to members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.{{cite web , url=http://www.wcpp.gov.za/content.aspx?pageId=f2264ae2-735f-4add-b532-336 ...

. He is a member of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC). He was a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the New National Party (NNP) and the Labour Party (LP).

Political career

Morkel was a member of the Labour Party before he was elected a councillor for the NNP in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. He was formerly chairperson of the now-defunct Cape Metropolitan Council's executive committee. In 2000, he declined to run for the position of unicity mayor ahead of the

municipal election In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct var ...

. He announced this following the expulsion of Mayor William Bantom. The ANC alleged that the dismissal of Bantom meant that Morkel stood to benefit due to his father serving as premier. Morkel denied this claim and was a councillor candidate for the newly created DA instead. Morkel held senior positions in the DA. He served as the party's provincial chairperson. He was also head of the party's caucus in the City of Cape Town municipality. He was a DA representative in the

Western Cape Provincial Parliament The Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) is the legislature of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is located at 7 Wale Street in Cape Town. The Provincial Parliament, along with the other provincial legislatures of South Africa, ...

. In June 2005, Morkel was accused of accepting bribes from the company Gilt Edged Management Services (Gems). Morkel defected to the ANC during the September 2007 floor-crossing window period. Fellow DA MPP Kobus Brynard also joined the ANC. The defections were announced at a press conference headed by ANC national chairperson

Mosiuoa Lekota Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Lekota (born 13 August 1948) is a South African anti-Apartheid revolutionary for the African National Congress (ANC) who served jail time with Nelson Mandela from 1985 and who left the ANC to form the Congress of the Peo ...

. In February 2008, it became known that during Morkel's tenure as DA provincial chairperson, he allegedly offered a bribe to

Independent Democrats The Independent Democrats (ID) was a South African political party, formed by former Pan Africanist Congress member Patricia de Lille in 2003 via floor crossing legislation. The party's platform was premised on opposition to corruption, with ...

councillor Sheval Arendse for him to defect to the DA. The agreement between Arendse and Morkel was discussed before the Erasmus Commission of Inquiry into allegations of spying in the Cape Town City Council. In April, Morkel denied that he had accepted a bribe from

Badih Chaaban Badih Chabaan (c. 1960 - 4 September 2017) was a PR councilor in the Cape Town City Council (Subcouncil 17 (Athlone & District)). He was a member of the Africa Muslim Party (AMP) when he was named councilor in August 2006 but later crossed the fl ...

. Morkel soon retired from politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morkel, Kent Living people African National Congress politicians Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians National Party (South Africa) politicians Members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament Cape Coloureds Year of birth missing (living people)