Chiara Carter
Several senior members of the New National Party are expected to announce their defection to the Democratic Party within a matter of days. They include three candidates on the NNP’s Western Cape list for the National Assembly, as well as several candidates for the province’s legislature.
The DP is also expecting the defection of several United Democratic Movement members.
The defections are not limited to the Cape. Former education minister for the House of Delegates, Devi Govender, is rumoured to be planning a shift from the NNP to the DP in KwaZulu-Natal.
Leading the pack is the NNP’s number five choice in the Western Cape, Pauline Cupido. She is the wife of Henry Cupido, who recently defected to the DP. She has clashed with Premier Gerald Morkel over her criticism of the party.
Also expected to announce a change in allegiance is MP Glen Carelse, who was number 19 on the NNP list of 36 names and Chris Wyngaard, who was placed 32nd.
The three were among a group of prominent Western Cape Nationalists who met with party leaders last month to discuss their unhappiness with the nominations list compiled in the province. Those unhappy with the list included legislature members Nic Isaacs and Charles Redcliffe and MPs Quarta du Toit and Kobus Dowrie.
According to NNP sources, Du Toit might retire from politics, while Isaacs, who has been wooed by several parties, is understood to have not yet made up his mind.
The imminent defections are likely to further lower morale in the party which governs the Western Cape.
The row over the nominations brought to boiling point tensions within the NNP.
According to NNP sources, several caucuses are operating within the party, and the divisions which have emerged include ones along colour lines.
There are also rumblings about a possible attempt to unseat party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk who has become something of a scapegoat for the party’s woes in certain NNP circles.
Recent polls show the NNP and ANC are racing neck and neck, but as many as three in every 10 potential voters undecided.