2007 South African floor-crossing window period

The 2007 floor crossing window period in South Africa was a period of 15 days, from 1 to 15 September 2007, in which members of the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures, and municipal councils were able to cross the floor from one political party to another without giving up their seats. The period was authorised by the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of South Africa,[1] which scheduled regular window periods in the second and fourth September after each election. The previous general election had been held on 14 April 2004, and a previous window period had occurred in September 2005.

In the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures, the changes were minor, with the most significant development being the creation of the African People's Convention by departing members of the Pan Africanist Congress.

The tables below show all the changes; in those provinces not listed there was no change in the provincial legislature.

Tables

National Assembly

Party Seats before Net change Seats after[2]
ANC 293 +4 297
DA 47 0 47
IFP 23 0 23
UDM 6 0 6
ID 5 −1 4
ACDP 4 0 4
VF+ 4 0 4
National Democratic Convention 4 0 4
UCDP 3 0 3
MF 2 0 2
APC[note 1] +2 2
PAC 3 −2 1
AZAPO 1 0 1
Federation of Democrats 1 0 1
National Alliance[note 1] +1 1
United Independent Front 2 −2 0
Progressive Independent Movement 1 −1 0
United Party 1 −1 0
Total 400

Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature

Party Seats before Net change Seats after[3]
ANC 51 +2 53
DA 5 0 5
UDM 4 0 4
APC[note 1] +1 1
United Independent Front 2 −2 0
PAC 1 −1 0
Total 63

Gauteng Provincial Legislature

Party Seats before Net change Seats after[3]
ANC 51 0 51
DA 12 +1 13
IFP 2 0 2
VF+ 1 +1 2
ID 1 +1 2
ACDP 1 0 1
Alliance of Free Democrats 1 0 1
APC[note 1] +1 1
Federal Alliance 2 −2 0
PAC 1 −1 0
United Independent Front 1 −1 0
Total 73

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature

Party Seats before Net change Seats after[3]
ANC 40 +1 41
IFP 27 0 27
DA 5 0 5
National Democratic Convention 4 −1 3
MF 2 0 2
ACDP 1 0 1
UDM 1 0 1
Total 80

Limpopo Provincial Legislature

Party Seats before Net change Seats after[3]
ANC 45 +1 46
DA 2 −1 1
ACDP 1 0 1
United Independent Front 1 0 1
Total 49

Northern Cape Provincial Legislature

Party Seats before Net change Seats after[3]
ANC 24 +1 25
DA 3 −1 2
ACDP 1 0 1
VF+ 1 0 1
ID 1 0 1
Total 30

Western Cape Provincial Parliament

Party Seats before Net change Seats after[3]
ANC 24 +3 27
DA 13 −2 11
ACDP 2 0 2
United Independent Front 2 −1 1
ID 1 0 1
Total 42

National Council of Provinces

The National Council of Provinces was reconstituted as a result of the changes in the provincial legislatures. Its reconstituted makeup was as follows:[4]

Party Delegate type EC FS G KZN L M NW NC WC Total
ANC Permanent 4 4 4 3 5 5 4 4 3 36 68
Special 4 4 3 2 4 4 4 4 3 32
DA Permanent 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 10 12
Special 1 1 2
IFP Permanent 1 2 3 4
Special 1 1
ACDP Permanent 1 1
ID Permanent 1 1
VF+ Permanent 1 1
UCDP Permanent 1 1
UDM Permanent 1 1
National Democratic Convention Special 1 1
Total 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 90

Notes to the tables

  1. ^ a b c d Party created during this floor-crossing period.

National floor crossings

From PAC to APC

Provincial floor crossings

Eastern Cape

From PAC to APC

Western Cape

From UIF to DA

From DA to ANC

Gauteng

From PAC to APC

Municipal floor crossings

City of Cape Town

From DA to NPP

See also

References

  1. ^ Constitution Tenth Amendment Act of 2003
  2. ^ "Political Parties in National Assembly". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. Archived from the original on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e f John Kane-Berman; et al. (2008). South Africa Survey 2007/08. South African Institute of Race Relations. p. 650.
  4. ^ John Kane-Berman; et al. (2008). South Africa Survey 2007/08. South African Institute of Race Relations. p. 648.