Kent Morkel
{{short description|Retired South African politician and son of Gerald Morkel}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Kent Hercules Morkel is a retired South African politician and the son of the late politician Gerald Morkel. He served as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. He is a member of the African National Congress (ANC). He was a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the New National Party (NNP) and the Labour Party (LP).
Political career
Morkel was a member of the Labour Party before he was elected a councillor for the NNP in 1996.{{cite news |last1=Maclennan |first1=Ben |title=ANC gets majority rule -- in Morkel family |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2007-09-12-anc-gets-majority-rule-in-morkel-family |accessdate=1 January 2020 |newspaper=Mail & Guardian |date=12 September 2009}} He was formerly chairperson of the now-defunct Cape Metropolitan Council's executive committee. In 2000, he declined to run for the position of unicity mayor ahead of the municipal election. He announced this following the expulsion of Mayor William Bantom. The ANC alleged that the dismissal of Bantom meant that Morkel stood to benefit due to his father serving as premier. Morkel denied this claim and was a councillor candidate for the newly created DA instead.{{cite news |title=Morkel's son ducks out of mayoral race |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/morkels-son-ducks-out-of-mayoral-race-43793 |accessdate=1 January 2020 |newspaper=Independent Online (South Africa) |date=14 September 2000 |url-status = live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101214726/https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/morkels-son-ducks-out-of-mayoral-race-43793 |archivedate=1 January 2020}}
Morkel held senior positions in the DA. He served as the party's provincial chairperson. He was also head of the party's caucus in the City of Cape Town municipality. He was a DA representative in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.
In June 2005, Morkel was accused of accepting bribes from the company Gilt Edged Management Services (Gems).{{cite news |last1=Schroeder |first1=Fatima |title=Morkel's fate hangs in the balance |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/morkels-fate-hangs-in-the-balance-245140 |accessdate=1 January 2020 |newspaper=Independent Online (South Africa) |date=30 June 2005}}
Morkel defected to the ANC during the September 2007 floor-crossing window period. Fellow DA MPP Kobus Brynard also joined the ANC. The defections were announced at a press conference headed by ANC national chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota.{{cite news |title=DA loses Morkel, Brynard to ANC |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2007-09-05-da-loses-morkel-brynard-to-anc |accessdate=1 January 2020 |newspaper=Mail & Guardian |date=5 September 2007}}
In February 2008, it became known that during Morkel's tenure as DA provincial chairperson, he allegedly offered a bribe to Independent Democrats councillor Sheval Arendse for him to defect to the DA. The agreement between Arendse and Morkel was discussed before the Erasmus Commission of Inquiry into allegations of spying in the Cape Town City Council.{{cite news |title=Morkel named in bribe scandal |url=https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Morkel-named-in-bribe-scandal-20080210 |accessdate=1 January 2020 |newspaper=News24 |date=10 February 2008}} In April, Morkel denied that he had accepted a bribe from Badih Chaaban.{{cite news |title=Morkel denies handout |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2008-04-11-morkel-denies-handout |accessdate=1 January 2020 |newspaper=Mail & Guardian |date=11 April 2008}}
Morkel soon retired from politics.