Malizole Diko (died 28 July 2006) was a South African politician who served in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

from April 2004 until his death in July 2006. He was the Deputy President of the

United Democratic Movement The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is a centre-left, social-democratic, South African political party, formed by a prominent former National Party leader, Roelf Meyer (who has since resigned from the UDM), a former African National Congress ...

(UDM) until the floor-crossing period of September 2005, when he left to establish his own breakaway party, the

United Independent Front The United Independent Front (UIF) was a political party in South Africa. It broke away from the United Democratic Movement (UDM). Until his death in 2006, it was led by Malizole Diko. He and Nomakhaya Mdaka were the sole members of parliament ...

(UIF).

Political career

Diko rose through the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

structures of the UDM to become the party's national spokesperson, its national secretary-general, and finally its national deputy president under UDM president Bantu Holomisa. In the 2004 general election, he was elected to represent the UDM in the

, the lower house of the South African Parliament. On 5 August 2005, while he was UDM deputy president, he and five other senior UDM members were suspended from the party amid reports that they intended to defect from the party in the upcoming floor-crossing period. The

Cape High Court The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over th ...

overturned the suspensions on 30 August, ruling that they had not been procedural in terms of the party's own constitution. However, the day after the ruling – which was the day before the floor-crossing window opened – Holomisa announced that Diko and the others had been expelled from the party with immediate effect for acting "in clear contravention of the letter and spirit of the UDM constitution". In terms of the

South African Constitution The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the Govern ...

, the expulsion entailed that Diko lost his seat in the National Assembly. However, he successfully challenged the expulsion in court; on 14 September, the Cape High Court again overruled the party's decision as unlawful and invalid. Immediately after the second ruling, which restored his membership in the National Assembly the day before the floor-crossing window closed, Diko confirmed his intention to cross the floor and leave the UDM to join another party or form a new one. On 15 September, he established and formally joined the UIF; Nomakhaya Mdaka, another UDM member, joined him as the UIF's second representative in the National Assembly.

Death

Diko died in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

on 28 July 2006 after a short illness. His seat in the National Assembly was filled by Zintle Alexia Ndlazi of the UIF, though she herself crossed the floor during the 2007 floor-crossing window and joined 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).

References

Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 21st-century South African politicians {{DEFAULTSORT:Diko, Malizole United Democratic Movement (South Africa) politicians Year of birth missing 2006 deaths

Political career

Death

See also

References