Kent Hercules Morkel is a retired South African politician and the son of the late politician

Gerald Morkel Gerald Morkel (2 February 1941 – 9 January 2018) was the Mayor of Cape Town and Premier of the Western Cape province in South Africa. He later served as a member of the Cape Town City Council for the Democratic Alliance until his retirement fr ...

. He served as a

Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament In the Western Cape province of South Africa, Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) is the designation given to members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.{{cite web , url=http://www.wcpp.gov.za/content.aspx?pageId=f2264ae2-735f-4add-b532-33 ...

. He is a member of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC). He was a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the New National Party (NNP) and the Labour Party (LP).

Political career

Morkel was a member of the Labour Party before he was elected a councillor for the NNP in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. He was formerly chairperson of the now-defunct Cape Metropolitan Council's executive committee. In 2000, he declined to run for the position of unicity mayor ahead of the

municipal election In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

. He announced this following the expulsion of Mayor

William Bantom Rev. William Bantom (born 1946?) was mayor of Cape Town from 1995 to 2000. He became the city's first black mayor following the first non-racial local government elections in 1995. He was forced to resign as mayor and expelled from the New Nat ...

. The ANC alleged that the dismissal of Bantom meant that Morkel stood to benefit due to his father serving as premier. Morkel denied this claim and was a councillor candidate for the newly created DA instead. Morkel held senior positions in the DA. He served as the party's provincial chairperson. He was also head of the party's caucus in the City of Cape Town municipality. He was a DA representative in the

Western Cape Provincial Parliament The Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) is the legislature of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is located at 7 Wale Street in Cape Town. The Provincial Parliament, along with the other provincial legislatures of South Africa, e ...

. In June 2005, Morkel was accused of accepting bribes from the company Gilt Edged Management Services (Gems). Morkel defected to the ANC during the September 2007 floor-crossing window period. Fellow DA MPP Kobus Brynard also joined the ANC. The defections were announced at a press conference headed by ANC national chairperson

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, ...

. In February 2008, it became known that during Morkel's tenure as DA provincial chairperson, he allegedly offered a bribe to

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 ...

councillor Sheval Arendse for him to defect to the DA. The agreement between Arendse and Morkel was discussed before the Erasmus Commission of Inquiry into allegations of spying in the Cape Town City Council. In April, Morkel denied that he had accepted a bribe from

Badih Chaaban Badih Chabaan (c. 1960 - 4 September 2017) was a PR councilor in the Cape Town City Council (Subcouncil 17 (Athlone & District)). He was a member of the Africa Muslim Party (AMP) when he was named councilor in August 2006 but later crossed the fl ...

. Morkel soon retired from politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morkel, Kent Living people African National Congress politicians Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians National Party (South Africa) politicians Members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament Cape Coloureds Year of birth missing (living people)