Avril Harding

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Avril Harding
Member of the National Assembly
In office
23 April 2004 – 22 August 2007
ConstituencyWestern Cape
Secretary-General of the Independent Democrats
In office
June 2003 – July 2007
PresidentPatricia de Lille
Preceded byParty established
Succeeded byHaniff Hoosen
Personal details
Born (1960-09-11) 11 September 1960 (age 63)
CitizenshipSouth Africa
Political partyCongress of the People
Other political
affiliations		Independent Democrats (2004–2007)
Pan Africanist Congress

Avril Harding (born 11 September 1960) is a South African politician who was founding secretary-general of the Independent Democrats (ID) from the party's launch in June 2003 until July 2007. He also represented the party in the National Assembly from April 2004 to August 2007, serving the Western Cape constituency.

In August 2007, he was expelled from the Independent Democrats, and therefore from Parliament, on suspicion of planning to cross the floor. He subsequently joined the Congress of the People.

Independent Democrats: 2003–2007

Harding was formerly the elections manager of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), including during the party's 1999 general election campaign. In that capacity, he worked closely with PAC politician Patricia de Lille.[1][2] During the 2003 floor-crossing window, de Lille defected from the PAC to establish a new party, the Independent Democrats (ID), and Harding joined her as a co-founder of the party.[3] He was appointed as the party's inaugural secretary-general, with Monique Enser as his deputy.[4]

National Assembly

In the 2004 general election, Harding was elected to a seat in the National Assembly. He was one of seven ID representatives in the National Assembly and, with Cecil Burgess, one of two serving in the Western Cape constituency.[5][6] Retaining his post as ID secretary-general, he was also appointed as the party's chief whip in Parliament.[7]

In early 2005, Lennit Max, an ID leader in the Western Cape, was subject to an internal ID disciplinary hearing in connection with allegations that Harding and de Lille had accepted a donation from alleged drug kingpin Quintin Marinus. De Lille had been informed that they were under investigation by the National Prosecuting Authority in this connection, and she suspected Max of having circulated the allegation, using his contacts in the police.[8][9] Max maintained that it was true that Harding and de Lille had accepted the donation, though the ID strongly denied it.[10]

In early July 2007, at an ID elective conference in Cape Town, Harding lost his bid for a second term as ID secretary-general; he was replaced by Haniff Hoosen.[11]

Sexual harassment complaint

Within days of the 2007 elective conference, Harding was summoned for a disciplinary hearing at the ID's offices, where he was charged with sexual harassment. The complaint had been filed a month earlier by Agnes Tsamai, who over the weekend had been elected as ID deputy president. She alleged that Harding had made sexual advances during a party event in Klerksdorp on 2 June; she said that he had phoned her to ask her to have sex with him in his hotel room.[12] The disciplinary case against Harding was postponed.[11]

Expulsion

While the disciplinary hearing was pending, in August 2007, the ID terminated Harding's party membership, saying that Harding had been planning to defect from the party during the upcoming floor-crossing period; he was apparently slated to join a new party known as the Social Democrats.[3] He vacated his seat in the National Assembly on 22 August 2007 as he had lost his party membership, being replaced as secretary-general by Haniff Hoosen.[13] A legal challenge by Harding was dismissed in the Cape High Court,[14] and the internal sexual harassment proceedings became moot.[15] Hoosen later accused "certain individuals in the ID" of having pursued "a bid to ruin me for the rest of my life".[16]

Congress of the People

Harding joined the Congress of the People (COPE) after it was founded in 2008 and ran for election under its banner in the 2009 general election.[17] Although he was ranked too low on the party list to win a seat, COPE announced in the aftermath of the election that Harding would be employed full-time at the party's headquarters as its head of administration in Parliament.[18]

References

  1. ^ "De Lille in accident". The Mail & Guardian. 17 May 1999. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  2. ^ "PAC fights for forgotten towns". The Mail & Guardian. 7 May 1999. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Harding booted out of ID". IOL. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  4. ^ "De Lille rolls up her sleeves, announces executive". The Mail & Guardian. 23 June 2003. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Few surprises on candidates lists". The Mail & Guardian. 20 April 2004. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  6. ^ "General Notice: Notice 717 of 2004 - Electoral Commission – List of Names of Representatives in the National Assembly and the Nine Provincial Legislatures in Respect of the Elections Held on 14 April 2004" (PDF). Government Gazette of South Africa. Vol. 466, no. 2677. Pretoria, South Africa: Government of South Africa. 20 April 2004. pp. 4–95. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Learning to let go". The Mail & Guardian. 14 May 2004. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  8. ^ "ID leader refuses to identify Scorpions source". The Mail & Guardian. 21 February 2005. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Max drops lawsuit". The Mail & Guardian. 28 January 2005. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  10. ^ "ID war of words rages on". The Mail & Guardian. 27 January 2005. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  11. ^ a b "ID mum on Harding sex charges". News24. 10 July 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  12. ^ Joubert, Jan-Jan (9 July 2007). "'I've got the hots for you'". News24. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  13. ^ "National Assembly Members". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 15 January 2009. Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  14. ^ "Floor-crossing: Judge slams 'horse-trading'". The Mail & Guardian. 31 August 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  15. ^ "ID stands fast against floor-crossers". The Mail & Guardian. 31 August 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  16. ^ "ID charges sacked secretary general with theft". The Mail & Guardian. 15 November 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  17. ^ "2009 National and Provincial Election – Final Candidate Lists" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. 6 April 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  18. ^ "Expelled ID man now COPE's admin head". IOL. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
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