As the United Democratic Movement’s lawyers filed papers at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg to have the floor-crossing laws declared unconstitutional, UDM leader Bantu Holomisa in Cape Town called on government to withdraw the legislation.
In court documents filed on Thursday, he says the UDM approached the courts “in the interest of the entire South African electorate, which stands to have its expressed electoral choice negated”.
Holomisa argues the constitutional principle of multi-party democracy was meant as a protection against “cherry-picking” by majority parties using patronage as an inducement.
But this had already happened to the UDM, Holomisa says. The former Eastern Cape UDM leader Chief Dumisani Gwadiso “was lured to the ANC and has been rewarded with the ambassadorship to the Cote d’Ivoire”.
His affidavit says the floor-crossing law was only pursued after the ANC/New National Party co-operation agreement last year The Democratic Alliance lost control of the Western Cape government, and defection laws were needed to kick-start a similar power shift in Cape Town.
In KwaZulu-Natal, Holomisa says the defection law has sparked a political crisis, triggering fears of violence.
His affidavit argues the law undermines the constitutional principle of proportional representation. He also argues that the two constitutional amendments were adopted without the required 75% vote threshold.
The Constitutional Court is likely to hear the matter by the end of July. The Inkatha Freedom Party, Pan Africanist Congress, Freedom Front and the African Christian Democratic Party have indicated their willingness to join the court action.