The contentious issue of floor-crossing will be raised in Parliament next week, Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon promised on Tuesday.
He said he plans to confront President Thabo Mbeki in Parliament next week on the issue.
Speaking at the Africa Dialogue lecture series at the University of Pretoria, Leon said the practice has become almost universally detested by voters.
”Opinion polls conducted before the recent local government election revealed that 73% of eligible voters intended to vote against so-called ‘crosstitutes’.”
In Pretoria and in Cape Town not a single councillor who crossed from the DA to the African National Congress won his or her ward. He added that the pattern was similar elsewhere in the country.
”Unfortunately, at the national and provincial levels, public representatives are not elected by constituencies and so voters cannot pass their verdict.”
Leon blames the ANC for ”shamelessly” using public posts, salaries and perks to woo floor-crossers from other parties.
”In Parliament last year, DA MP Dan Maluleke was instantly made an ANC whip when he crossed over. One DA MP, who refused to cross, was offered a deputy minister’s post,” Leon said.
He said while the DA initially supported the floor-crossing Bill, it had safeguards that were removed from the legislation.
”There was, for instance, a need for would-be floor-crossers to demonstrate to the Independent Electoral Commission that their party had made a fundamental break with its past policies,” Leon said.
He said the DA has introduced a private members’ Bill to change the floor-crossing system, but the ANC refuses to allow the Bill to be debated. — Sapa