Howard Barrell
Musical chairs continued in Parliament this week when two more opposition politicians – Patrick McKenzie of the New National Party and Bukelwa Mbulawa of the Democratic Party – joined the African National Congress.
Mbulawa’s defection is a blow to the DP. But McKenzie’s change of loyalties came as no surprise. The Mail & Guardian reported weeks ago that he was about to move to the ANC. A fortnight ago, he was negotiating with other parties.
Both McKenzie, formerly NNP MEC for welfare in the Western Cape, and Mbulawa, formerly a DP MP, were sworn in as ANC MPs in the National Assembly on Thursday.
ANC representative Thabo Masebe denied that his party had broken its own guidelines by admitting McKenzie and Mbulawa as public representatives. He said guidelines requiring that ANC candidates for public office have prior track records as ordinary members of the party applied only to the upcoming election. They did not apply to the current Parliament.