A jubilant New National Party on Tuesday morning produced the defectors it needs to wrest control of the City of Cape Town from the Democratic Alliance.
The announcement came only hours after the fifteen-day window period for defections kicked in, in terms of last week’s Constitutional Court ruling.
Among the 26 defectors on the NNP list are four members of the city’s executive committee — David Erleigh, George Mellet, Gavin Paulse — who is also the DA’s chief whip in the council — and Koos Bredenhand.
The floor-crossings mean the NNP will hold the balance of power on the council with its coalition partner the African National Congress.
The DA currently holds 107 of the 200 seats on the council. Seventy of those are held by former members of the NNP, and 37 by ex-Democratic Party stalwarts.
The ANC has 77 seats — meaning it needed only 24 defectors to take control.
Amid cries from supporters of ”free again,” NNP leader and Western Cape premier Marthinus van Schalkwyk said: ”Now we will now give dignity back to the people of Cape Town.
”They will now have a government that they can be proud of again and that will govern in their interest.” – Sapa