The floor-crossing season has come and gone, with predictable changes to the party political landscape of South Africa. Twelve new opposition parties have come to light but only one, the African People’s Convention (APC), has national representatives.
Although 280 politicians tried to use the floor-crossing window to deliver their voters to a different party for their own personal ends, only 250 succeeded. This year floor crossing was marked by a litany of farcical mistakes — such as councillors crossing too early, although the date when the window opened was widely publicised.
In other cases councillors tried to switch allegiances twice, while crosstitutes are allowed only one crossing. And then, of course, there were the classic cases of 21 councillors trying to cross over even though they were not elected.
When Parliament reopens in October it will welcome one new party, called the APC, which is the result of crossings by two members of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, a move widely seen as the end of this party. Parliament also saw the demise of three opposition parties born out of the last floor-crossing period in 2005: the Progressive Independent Movement (PIM), the United Independent Front (UIF) and the United Party of South Africa. All but one of their MPs, including Craig Morkel — who admitted to fraud in the Travelgate saga — joined the ANC. Ten of the 12 municipalites that changed hands are located in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, with the ANC gaining the majority in some areas. But it could not manage to secure the crown jewel, Cape Town.
This might be the last time South African voters are subjected to the circus of floor crossing. There are increasing rumblings in the ruling party about scrapping the legislation. This will be debated at the party’s elective conference in Polokwane in December.