Charlene Smith
The National Party continued its string of humiliating local government by-election defeats this week, polling a paltry 22 votes in the mixed coloured and African council ward of Bloekombos in the Western Cape.
And an NP councillor, Bill Schibbe, who defected to the Democratic Party on Thursday said it was time for the party to close shop on Monday May 25 – the 50th anniversary of the NP’s coming to power.
The NP has lost a string of by-elections in recent weeks, bleeding heavily in the Cape and Gauteng regions. Neither the leadership of Marthinus van Schalkwyk – which was questioned for the first time by the pro-NP newspaper Rapport – nor the recent election of new Western Cape Premier Gerald Morkel appears to be inspiring NP supporters
But the game of musical chairs among opposition voters continued with the DP losing its Port Elizabeth branch chair David Ross on Thursday, when he resigned and joined the United Democratic Movement (UDM). A DP branch chair, a councillor and a former DP mayor of East London will also announce their defection to the UDM at the weekend, as will an ANC councillor from Despatch.
The Democratic Party says at least 10 city councillors nationwide have joined it since the beginning of this year, while a dozen have defected to the UDM in Gauteng, with as many as 40 in the Eastern Cape.
Other areas of strong UDM growth are the Northern Cape and North West provinces, according to the party’s co-leader, Roelf Meyer.
While the UDM has also gained members of provincial legislatures, it is more difficult for them and MPs in the National Assembly to cross the floor as it means they lose their position and income. City councillors, however, retain their seats.
Western Cape DP representative Jonathan Hulley said he believes there will be a huge number of resignations and defections from political parties in February or March next year, when proportional representation lists are drawn up for the 1999 election.
Ryan Coetzee, DP national representative, said: “Nats are running from the sinking ship. But more important are the defections of branch chairs and branch committees to the DP in places like Uitenhage and Summerstrand.
“As far as its former supporters are concerned, the National Party has failed as an opposition. The DP, and in particular Tony Leon, have walked the walk. Where are Nat positions on Sarafina or Virodene? People want someone to stand up for them and argue their case.”
Meyer said, “The Nats are gone. Basically they have no idea of what they stand for any longer, and once a party has lost its cause it can’t make an appeal to the voters. They will just fade away.
“Where the NP is now is as a result of mistakes FW de Klerk made. He wanted to reform the party and retain its power base in the white community. That confused people and that is why the party lost its heart. There is no consistent Nat stance.”
Schibbe said he resigned from the NP when it became clear that his constituency preferred Tony Leon. “After FW de Klerk left the government of national unity the wheels fell off the NP. De Klerk and the Nats are a nice group of people but their mindset is to govern with the whip.”