15 Facts About Craig Morkel

Craig Mervyn Morkel was born on 10 November 1967 and is a South African businessman and former politician.

Craig Morkel served in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2009, representing the Western Cape constituency, before embarking on his career in business.

Craig Morkel entered the National Assembly as a member of the New National Party before he crossed to the Democratic Alliance in March 2003; formed his own party, the Progressive Independent Movement, in September 2005; and finally crossed to the African National Congress in September 2007.

Craig Morkel was born on 10 November 1967 and was designated as Coloured under apartheid.

Craig Morkel joined the National Assembly in the 1999 general election as a representative of the NNP in the Western Cape constituency.

Midway through the term, in 2001, Craig Morkel's father fell out with the NNP over the NNP's withdrawal from the multi-party Democratic Alliance that it had formed the previous year with the Democratic Party.

In March 2003, during the first floor-crossing window, Craig Morkel indeed resigned from NNP and joined a contingent of his colleagues, led by Sheila Camerer, in registering as a DA member.

Craig Morkel served the rest of the legislative term under the DA's banner.

The defection greatly increased the public profile of Craig Morkel, who had been "barely visible" as an NNP member.

Later the same month, Craig Morkel became the only MP to publicly acknowledge that he had signed an acknowledgement of debt with one of the travel agencies involved in the scandal; he said that he would repay about R33,000 to ITC Travel.

Similarly, in January 2005, when the Scorpions announced that 40 MPs would face criminal charges for their role in Travelgate, Craig Morkel stepped forward to identify himself as one of them.

In December 2006, Craig Morkel accepted a plea bargain with the Scorpions; he was sentenced to pay a fine of R25,000 or serve three years' imprisonment.

Craig Morkel said that he would not return to the DA until its leadership changed, though he hoped that the party would become a platform to lobby for change in his former party DA:.

The newspaper suspected that Craig Morkel had decided to leave the PIM because, in the minor party, "he stood no chance at all of being re-elected at the next general election in 2009".

However, even as an ANC member, Craig Morkel left the National Assembly after the 2009 election.