Independent Democrats benefits from floorcrossing rule

Date: 1 Sep 2004
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

The Independent Democrats (ID), a political party which was formed by Patricia de Lille, who had defected from the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), benefited from the floor-crossing rule that allows members of parties at all three levels of government to join a party of their choice without losing their Parliamentary seat. The ID welcomed eighteen municipal councillors, mainly from New National Party (NNP), on the first day of the floor-crossing period. Other parties that benefited from the rule included the Freedom Front, which received ten councillors while Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon announced reception of 26 councillors. In Cape Town unicity the African National Congress (ANC) registered a major gain with the NNP being the main casualty after 23 of its 32 councillors crossed to the ANC.

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How we know this

01News 24,'18 cross floor to ID on day one', from News24 [Online]. Available at: news24.com [Accessed 29 September 2009]
02Parliamentary monitoring group, "IDASA Political Information & Monitoring Service", from Parliamentary monitoring group[Online], available at www.pmg.org.za [Accessed : 23 August 2013]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Independent Democrats benefits from floorcrossing rule. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013587

South African History Online (2011) 'Independent Democrats benefits from floorcrossing rule', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013587 (Accessed: 1 October 2026).

South African History Online, Independent Democrats benefits from floorcrossing rule [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013587, (accessed 1 October 2026).

"Independent Democrats benefits from floorcrossing rule." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013587. Accessed 1 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "Independent Democrats benefits from floorcrossing rule." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013587.