The 2005 floor crossing window period in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 was a period of 15 days, from 1 to 15 September 2007, in which members of the National Assembly and the provincial legislature

Provincial legislature (South Africa)

In South Africa, a provincial legislature is the legislative branch of the government of a province. The provincial legislatures are unicameral and vary in size from 30 to 80 members depending on the population of the province...

s, and municipal council

Municipal council

A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...

s 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

Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of South Africa

The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of South Africa altered the provisions relating to membership of the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures, to allow members of those bodies to cross the floor at certain times without losing their seats...

 of the Constitution of South Africa

Constitution of South Africa

The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the country of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the government. The current constitution, the country's fifth, was...

, which scheduled regular window periods in the second and fourth September after each election. The previous general election

South African general election, 2004

Legislative elections were held in South Africa on Wednesday, 14 April 2004. The African National Congress of President Thabo Mbeki, which came to power after the end of the apartheid system in 1994, was re-elected with an increased majority....

 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.

National Assembly

|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Party
!Seats before
!Net change
!Seats after
|-
|
|293
| +4
|297
|-
|
|47
| 0
|47
|-
|
|23
| 0
|23
|-
|
|6
| 0
|6
|-
|
|5
| −1
|4
|-
|
|4
| 0
|4
|-
|
|4
| 0
|4
|-
|bgcolor="#eeeeee"|
|style="text-align:left"|National Democratic Convention

National Democratic Convention (South Africa)

The National Democratic Convention is a South African political party formed in August 2005 via floor crossing legislation by Ziba Jiyane, the former Inkatha Freedom Party chairperson....

|4
| 0
|4
|-
|
|3
| 0
|3
|-
|
|2
| 0
|2
|-
|Party created during this floor-crossing period.
|
| +2
|2
|-
|
|3
| −2
|1
|-
|
|1
| 0
|1
|-
|bgcolor="#eeeeee"|
|style="text-align:left"|Federation of Democrats
|1
| 0
|1
|-
|bgcolor="#eeeeee"|
|style="text-align:left"|National Alliance

National Alliance (South Africa)

The National Alliance is a South African political party, on the ballot of the Western Cape province for the South African 2009 provincial election....

|
| +1
|1
|-
|
|2
| −2
|0
|-
|bgcolor="#eeeeee"|
|style="text-align:left"|Progressive Independent Movement
|1
| −1
|0
|-
|bgcolor="#eeeeee"|
|style="text-align:left"|United Party
|1
| −1
|0
|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Total
!colspan="3" style="text-align:center"|400
|}

Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature

|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Party
!Seats before
!Net change
!Seats after
|-
|
|51
| +2
|53
|-
|
|5
| 0
|5
|-
|
|4
| 0
|4
|-
|
|
| +1
|1
|-
|
|2
| −2
|0
|-
|
|1
| −1
|0
|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Total
!colspan="3" style="text-align:center"|63
|}

Gauteng Provincial Legislature

|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Party
!Seats before
!Net change
!Seats after
|-
|
|51
| 0
|51
|-
|
|12
| +1
|13
|-
|
|2
| 0
|2
|-
|
|1
| +1
|2
|-
|
|1
| +1
|2
|-
|
|1
| 0
|1
|-
|bgcolor="#eeeeee"|
|style="text-align:left"|Alliance of Free Democrats
|1
| 0
|1
|-
|
|
| +1
|1
|-
|bgcolor="#eeeeee"|
|style="text-align:left"|Federal Alliance

Federal Alliance (South Africa)

The Federal Alliance was a small South African political party that contested the South African general election in 1999. The party was led by business magnate Louis Luyt, and founded in 1998....

|2
| −2
|0
|-
|
|1
| −1
|0
|-
|
|1
| −1
|0
|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Total
!colspan="3" style="text-align:center"|73
|}

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature

|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Party
!Seats before
!Net change
!Seats after
|-
|
|40
| +1
|41
|-
|
|27
| 0
|27
|-
|
|5
| 0
|5
|-
|bgcolor="#eeeeee"|
|style="text-align:left"|National Democratic Convention

National Democratic Convention (South Africa)

The National Democratic Convention is a South African political party formed in August 2005 via floor crossing legislation by Ziba Jiyane, the former Inkatha Freedom Party chairperson....

|4
| −1
|3
|-
|
|2
| 0
|2
|-
|
|1
| 0
|1
|-
|
|1
| 0
|1
|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Total
!colspan="3" style="text-align:center"|80
|}

Limpopo Provincial Legislature

|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Party
!Seats before
!Net change
!Seats after
|-
|
|45
| +1
|46
|-
|
|2
| −1
|1
|-
|
|1
| 0
|1
|-
|
|1
| 0
|1
|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Total
!colspan="3" style="text-align:center"|49
|}

Northern Cape Provincial Legislature

|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Party
!Seats before
!Net change
!Seats after
|-
|
|24
| +1
|25
|-
|
|3
| −1
|2
|-
|
|1
| 0
|1
|-
|
|1
| 0
|1
|-
|
|1
| 0
|1
|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Total
!colspan="3" style="text-align:center"|30
|}

Western Cape Provincial Parliament

|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Party
!Seats before
!Net change
!Seats after
|-
|
|24
| +3
|27
|-
|
|13
| −2
|11
|-
|
|2
| 0
|2
|-
|
|2
| −1
|1
|-
|
|1
| 0
|1
|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Total
!colspan="3" style="text-align:center"|42
|}

National Council of Provinces

The National Council of Provinces

National Council of Provinces

The National Council of Provinces is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the constitution which came into full effect in 1997...

 was reconstituted as a result of the changes in the provincial legislatures. Its reconstituted makeup was as follows:

|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Party
!style="text-align:left"|Delegate type
!EC

Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...

!FS

Free State

The Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Orange Free State Boer republic and later Orange Free State Province. The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the Bantustans...

!G

Gauteng

Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...

!KZN

KwaZulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....

!L

Limpopo

Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. The capital is Polokwane, formerly named Pietersburg. The province was formed from the northern region of Transvaal Province in 1994, and initially named Northern Transvaal...

!M

Mpumalanga

Mpumalanga , is a province of South Africa. The name means east or literally "the place where the sun rises" in Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, north of KwaZulu-Natal and bordering Swaziland and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of South Africa's land area...

!NW

North West (South African province)

North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mafikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng.-History:...

!NC

Northern Cape

The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of an international park shared with Botswana...

!WC

Western Cape

The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...

!colspan=2|Total
|-
| style="width: 4px" bgcolor= rowspan=2|
| style="text-align: left;" scope="row" rowspan=2 |

African National Congress

The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...

|style="text-align:left"|Permanent
|4
|4
|4
|3
|5
|5
|4
|4
|3
|36
|rowspan=2|68
|-
|style="text-align:left"|Special
|4
|4
|3
|2
|4
|4
|4
|4
|3
|32
|-
| style="width: 4px" bgcolor= rowspan=2|
| style="text-align: left;" scope="row" rowspan=2 |
|style="text-align:left"|Permanent
|1
|1
|1
|1
|1
|1
|1
|1
|2
|10
|rowspan=2|12
|-
|style="text-align:left"|Special
|
|
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|1
|2
|-
| style="width: 4px" bgcolor= rowspan=2|
| style="text-align: left;" scope="row" rowspan=2 |

Inkatha Freedom Party

The Inkatha Freedom Party is a political party in South Africa. Since its founding, it has been led by Mangosuthu Buthelezi. It is currently the fourth largest party in the National Assembly of South Africa.-History:...

|style="text-align:left"|Permanent
|
|
|1
|2
|
|
|
|
|
|3
|rowspan=2|4
|-
|style="text-align:left"|Special
|
|
|
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|1
|-
|
|style="text-align:left"|Permanent
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|1
|colspan=2|1
|-
|
|style="text-align:left"|Permanent
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|1
|
|colspan=2|1
|-
|
|style="text-align:left"|Permanent
|
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|colspan=2|1
|-
|
|style="text-align:left"|Permanent
|
|
|
|
|
|
|1
|
|
|colspan=2|1
|-
|
|style="text-align:left"|Permanent
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|colspan=2|1
|-
|bgcolor="#eeeeee"|
|style="text-align:left"|National Democratic Convention

National Democratic Convention (South Africa)

The National Democratic Convention is a South African political party formed in August 2005 via floor crossing legislation by Ziba Jiyane, the former Inkatha Freedom Party chairperson....

|style="text-align:left"|Special
|
|
|
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|colspan=2|1
|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!colspan="3" style="text-align:left"|Total
!10
!10
!10
!10
!10
!10
!10
!10
!10
!colspan=2|90
|}

See also

• Floor crossing (South Africa)
  Floor crossing (South Africa)
  Floor crossing in South Africa was a controversial system under which Members of Parliament, Members of Provincial Legislatures and Local Government councillors could change political party and take their seats with them when they did so...
  
  
• 2003 South African floor-crossing window period
  2003 South African floor-crossing window period
  The 2003 floor crossing window period in South Africa was a period of 15 days, from 21 March to 4 April 2003, in which members of the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures were able to cross the floor from one political party to another without giving up their seats. The period was...
  
  
• 2005 South African floor-crossing window period
  2005 South African floor-crossing window period
  The 2005 floor crossing window period in South Africa was a period of 15 days, from 1 to 15 September 2005, in which members of the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures were able to cross the floor from one political party to another without giving up their seats...
  
  

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