 A new government was formed in the Western Cape consisting of the NNP and the ANC in December 2001, while the defection of some NNP councillors during the October 2002 floor-crossing window resulted in the DA losing control of Cape Town and most of the local municipalities in the Western Cape.Partially compensating for this, the DA accepted an offer late in 2002 to join the governing coalition in the KwaZulu-Natal province, in which it held cabinet seats until 2004 when that province too was won by an ANC-led coalition.The DA decided to maintain the new creation however, and the DP was disbanded and merged into the DA during the 2003 floor-crossing window, with all remaining DP public representatives becoming DA members.