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Floor crossing was a system introduced to the post-apartheid
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
n political system in 2002, under which members of
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
, members of provincial legislatures and local government councillors could change political party (or form a new party) and take their seats with them when they did so. Floor crossing in South Africa was abolished in January 2009.


History

Floor crossing was controversial because since 1994,
elections in South Africa Elections in South Africa are held for the National Assembly, provincial legislatures and municipal councils. Elections follow a five-year cycle, with national and provincial elections held simultaneously and municipal elections held two years ...
generally use
party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...
, with voters voting for a political party rather than an individual candidate. Floor crossing allowed politicians elected in that way to change parties, with the possible result that the post-crossing composition of the elected bodies no longer represented the preferences of voters. Floor crossing legislation was initially requested by the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa * Botswana Democratic Party * Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *De ...
and the New National Party in November 2001 as a means of formalising their unification into the Democratic Alliance. The African National Congress, which held the power in the legislature to change the constitution, then did not favour the measure, as it perceived the DA initiative to be a "congealing of a race and class based political opposition." However, when the NNP leadership announced its desire to leave the DA and to form alliances with the ANC in 2001, the ANC passed the legislation. The chairman of the ANC,
Mosiuoa Lekota Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Lekota (born 13 August 1948) is a South African politician, who currently serves as the President and Leader of the Congress of the People since 16 December 2008. Previously as a member of the African National Congress, ...
, stated that the party's reasons for the legislation was "for some political realignment... and the break-up of racial power blocks." Floor crossing was originally enabled by amendments to the Constitution of South Africa and other legislation passed by Parliament. The amendments removed clauses requiring members of the National Assembly to give up their seats if they changed parties. According to the void amendments, floor crossing was permitted only twice in an electoral term, during the second and fourth years after the
general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
, from 1 to 15 September. The
United Democratic Movement The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is a centre-left, social-democratic, Politics of South Africa, South African political party, formed by a prominent former National Party (South Africa), National Party leader, Roelf Meyer (who has since res ...
(UDM) unsuccessfully challenged the constitutionality of floor crossing. A bill to amend the constitution to again prevent politicians from keeping their seats when joining other parties, dubbed "crosstitutes", was tabled in Parliament in 2008 in consequence of the ANC decision at its December 2007 National Congress in Polokwane to reject floor crossing. The bill was passed by Parliament, and floor crossing was subsequently abolished when President
Kgalema Motlanthe Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe (; born 19 July 1949) is a South African politician who was South Africa's third president between 25 September 2008 and 9 May 2009, following Thabo Mbeki's resignation. Thereafter, he was deputy president under Jacob Z ...
assented to the constitutional amendment on 6 January 2009. Parties that gained floor crossers include the
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election installe ...
(ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA), New National Party (NNP), Sport Party,
Inkatha Freedom Party The Inkatha Freedom Party ( zu, IQembu leNkatha yeNkululeko, IFP) is a right-wing political party in South Africa. The party has been led by Velenkosini Hlabisa since the party's 2019 National General Conference. Mangosuthu Buthelezi founded ...
(IFP), Phumelela Ratepayers Association, Potchefstroom Inwonersvereniging, Breedevallei Onafhanklik, and the Universal Party Five parties were created by floor crossing in 2003, including the
Independent Democrats The Independent Democrats (ID) was a South African political party, formed by former Pan Africanist Congress member Patricia de Lille in 2003 via floor crossing legislation. The party's platform was premised on opposition to corruption, with ...
(ID) and the New Labour Party (NLP); in 2005, the National Democratic Convention (Nadeco) and Progressive Independent Movement (PIM).


In practice

Generally speaking, the ruling ANC benefited the most from the system, but other parties also managed to gain seats from it. The ANC and other large parties benefited the most from floor crossing because of a clause in the legislation that required ten percent of a party's caucus to cross the floor before any one member could cross. That meant that if ANC MP in the National Assembly who wanted to cross the floor would need to rely on 30 colleagues to do the same because the ANC had 293 MPs in the National Assembly. It was far easier for public representatives of small parties to cross the floor since they needed to collude with fewer of their colleagues. If there were fewer than ten members in a caucus, the ten percent clause effectively allowed each member to cross the floor unilaterally.


Criticism and controversy

The system was the source of much controversy, with many commentators arguing that it disenfranchised voters, by effectively allowing politicians to 'reallocate' votes as they saw fit. Other critics of floor crossing also argued that it lent itself to bribery and corruption. The official opposition, the Democratic Alliance, has pointed out that during the 2002 floor crossing window period in Cape Town, 87% of National Party Councillors that crossed to the ANC were appointed to a position with a better salary. Floor crossing was particularly controversial since South African MPs are elected by
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
and are nominated by political parties on a closed party list before general elections. Voters thus vote for a political party, rather than for an individual MP. However, floor crossing allowed MPs to change parties, with the possible result that the composition of the elected bodies no longer represented the original vote count. In a 15 January 2006 interview with the
South African Press Association The South African Press Association (SAPA) was the national news agency of South Africa until its closure in 2015. History The agency was established on 1 July 1938 by major South African newspapers to facilitate the sharing of news. Reuters had ...
, the president of the
Inkatha Freedom Party The Inkatha Freedom Party ( zu, IQembu leNkatha yeNkululeko, IFP) is a right-wing political party in South Africa. The party has been led by Velenkosini Hlabisa since the party's 2019 National General Conference. Mangosuthu Buthelezi founded ...
,
Mangosuthu Buthelezi Prince Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi (born 27 August 1928) is a South African politician and Zulu traditional leader who is currently a Member of Parliament and the traditional prime minister to the Zulu royal family. He was Chief Minister of the ...
, said, "Floor-crossing is like the HI virus because it robs the political system of all honour, holding political parties hostage by rendering them unable to discipline their own members. It allows the emergence of careerists, self-serving politicians, which are a very strange breed because they do not honour the sanctity of the vote cast in the ballot box." In 2005 the
African Christian Democratic Party African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...
(ACDP) stopped accepting floor-crossers: "Floor-crossing is an absolute mockery of parliamentary democracy and results in deception, suspicion, accusation and 'cheque-book' politics."


List of Parliamentary floor crossings

*
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* 2005 *
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See also

* Crossing the floor *
Party switching Party switching is any change in political party affiliation of a partisan public figure, usually one currently holding elected office. Party switching also occurs quite commonly in Brazil, Italy, Romania, Ukraine, India, Malaysia , and the ...


References

{{Political history of South Africa Government of South Africa Party switching