Editing United Democratic Movement (section)

===The New Movement Process===

Roelf Meyer left the National Party on 17 May 1997, along with fellow politicians [[Nilo Botha]], [[Takis Christodoulou]], [[Kobus du Plessis]], and [[Annelizé van Wyk]], some of whom had resigned their seats in the Gauteng Legislature. At a three-day strategic planning conference in May 1997, it was decided that a political movement should be established capable of unifying people around shared values across racial, historical, ideological and social dividing lines. The New Movement Process (NMP) was then established.

Bantu Holomisa and Roelf Meyer (who had met with Meyer still representing the [[National Party South Africa (2008)|National Party]] to discuss the process for a new movement) again met at Loftus Versveld, in mid-1997, to discuss working together and agreed in principle to explore the possibility of formal cooperation. A Joint Committee (JC) between the NCF and the NMP was formed to look into matters of common interest. The JC amalgamated its two (NCF and NMP) technical support teams into a Technical Committee (TC) to act as its executive body to implement the brief of the JC. This was to “look into matters of common interest between the two sides… consider… the establishment of a new party at an appropriate time… (and) in regard to the latter question… (investigate) matters of strategy, time scales, policy and funding”. The TC was jointly chaired by Kobus du Plessis (NMP) and Joel Mafenya (NCF) and its first meeting took place at the Carlton Hotel on 22 June 1997. After a joint strategic session at the Vaal Dam in July 1997 it was agreed that a new political party should be formed. The United Democratic Movement was launched at the World Trade Centre, in [[Kempton Park, South Africa|Kempton Park]], on 27 September 1997.{{sfn|Holomisa|Meyer|1999|p=}} Bantu Holomisa was elected the party's first president at its first national congress in June 1998.