The deputy leader of the Independent Democrats, Themba Sono, crossed the floor to a fledgling party just hours after the Cape High Court reversed his expulsion from the ID on Friday.
The ID had feared that Sono would defect.
”I have joined the Alliance of Free Democrats [AFD],” said Sono in a media statement.
He said he feels vindicated by the court ruling.
Sono said he had originally joined the ID in the hope that it would provide a constructive opposition to the ruling party while being a government-in-waiting.
”Today, I have lost all confidence and belief in the party, which still lacks defined policy and strategies, and thus ultimately in the leadership of the ID.”
Sono charged that the ID lacks the ”dynamism and vision” to attract more support, remaining caught up in the personality cult of its leader, Patricia de Lille.
”Today, I unreservedly remove myself from the cheap gutter politricks [sic] that has been so well perfected in the ID and which I have had to face so often.”
Sono said he looks forward to being able to fulfil his solemn oath to serve the people of Gauteng to the best of his ability.
Welcoming Sono, AFD leader Brian Power said he can now focus his efforts to serve the Gauteng citizenry better in a political home dedicated to the country’s diverse peoples.
Earlier on Friday, the Cape High Court set aside the ID’s expulsion of Sono.
Judge Dennis Davis ruled that Sono’s Gauteng legislature seat was not vacant after the ID terminated his membership in August on the basis that Sono had not paid a R10 membership fee.
The ID also claimed that Sono ceased to be a member of the party when he joined another.
Davis said the court had to decide two matters — whether Sono had paid his membership fees and whether he had joined a rival party.
On the first question, Davis said there was no affidavit or other supporting evidence to back up the ”bold allegation” by De Lille that Sono had not paid.
This assertion of non-payment, following an internal party investigation, could not even be supported by the ID’s records, because none apparently existed.
Davis said a membership card handed to Sono, apparently by De Lille herself, was also taken into consideration in his deliberations.
According to the ID’s constitution, this membership card could not have been handed over if the R10 subscription fee had not been settled.
Davis concluded that on the basis of available evidence, Sono was, in fact, a paid-up member of the party.
On the matter of Sono joining another party, Davis said this rested on two pieces of evidence — one a newspaper report and another an affidavit by Donovan Cloete, which stated that Sono was part of the recent formation of the AFD.
In contrast to this affidavit was one from the AFD’s Power, who denied that Sono was a member of the AFD or had anything to do with its formation.
Davis said while he could appreciate the ID’s fear of the ”spectre of floor-crossing” and the party’s wish to do all it could to retain its seats, this did not warrant a ”cavalier disregard” for fairness.
Davis ordered that Sono’s termination of membership from the party be set aside, that his Gauteng seat was not vacant and that the ID pay costs.
At court, Cecil Burgess, an ID MP and member of the legal team, said he would advise the ID not to take the matter further. — Sapa