Five KwaZulu-Natal MPLs who defected to the African National Congress (ANC) have been prevented from sitting, participating, or voting in the provincial legislature, pending the court ruling on the constitutionality of the defection legislation.
DA provincial leader Roger Burrows said his party, the IFP and the United Democratic Movement (UDM) have been successful in altering a Pietermaritzburg High Court order granted to the African National Congress (ANC) on Sunday.
On Friday in the province, two DA MPLs and two IFP MPLs defected to the ANC; they were joined by the UDM’s sole MPL in the province.
The three parties took disciplinary action against the MPLs saying they were not protected by defection legislation because of a Cape High Court temporary interdict halting the window period for defections.
The parties sought to replace them in the legislature, but the ANC on Sunday moved to stop the parties from replacing the MPLs.
Burrows said the DA, IFP and UDM were successful in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday in having Sunday’s court order ”altered significantly”.
”The amended order has the effect of preventing the five persons who have crossed to the ANC from sitting, participating, or voting in the KZN provincial legislature, until the findings of the constitutionality of the legislation allowing floor crossing has been finalised (or by the 10th July).”
The overall effect of the Pietermaritzburg’s High Court’s full order was, therefore, that while the DA, IFP and UDM could not replace their members who had crossed, ”that the ANC also cannot use them in any proceedings (including votes) in the legislature until the entire legal question of floor crossing has been settled”, Burrows said.
UDM MPL Sam Nxumalo at the weekend joined the IFP’s Mike Tarr and Maurice McKenzie and the DA’s Belinda Scott and Tim Jeebodh in switching allegiance to the ANC.
Meanwhile, Marthinus van Schalkwyk of the New National Party (NNP) accused the DA of suspending Western Cape councillors wanting to switch allegiance to other parties.
Addressing the Cape Town press club on Monday, he said the NNP had noted that the DA had begun sending letters on Sunday night to its public representatives to suspend their membership.
”This is quite serious because they are acting against the spirit of the law of Parliament that is now before the court… unless people become involved in all sort of destabilising actions, it’s not necessary.”
Van Schalkwyk said it was clear the DA realised it was going to lose the Cape Town unicity and it was trying to establish a ”vested right” by replacing councillors.
”Some of these members are seeking legal advice and there may be action during the day in that regard.”
He repeated his call for people who wished to defect from the DA to the NNP to remain calm until there was legal certainty.
In the Cape Town unicity currently controlled by the DA, the ANC and NNP need 24 DA councillors to defect to either party to take control of the city. – Sapa