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Former Congress of the People (Cope) deputy president and Member of Parliament (MP) Lynda Odendaal joined the African National Congress (ANC), she announced on Sunday.
"I want to make it clear that my decision to join the ANC is of my own free will," Odendaal said during a press conference in the ANC caucus boardroom at the provincial legislature in Johannesburg.
Odendaal resigned as MP and Cope member in July last year.
She said she took a break from business and politics for six months, "taking stock of the political landscape" and the country's social issues before joining the ANC on February 2.
She also started a nongovernmental organisation, Building a Cohesive Society, which focuses on unemployment issues.
"I'm no longer coping. I'm now living my life," she said amid laughter.
Odendaal acknowledged that she had been politically naive when she joined Cope in 2008.
"I did that once. I don't make the same mistake twice," she said.
Gauteng ANC leader Paul Mashatile welcomed her into the organisation. He was accompanied by provincial secretary David Makhura and the Sandton ANC branch leaders.
"Comrade Lynda is obviously a leader in her own right [and] there were no conditions of her joining the ANC," he said.
Mashatile said that Odendaal's expertise in leadership and the corporate world will be used by the party.
Odendaal will work in the Sandton branch of the ANC while continuing other business interests.
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