/ 28 May 2010

Cope bid to defer divisive elections

The Congress of the People (Cope) may be stuck with a “consensus leadership” for another four months if delegates accept a proposal by the congress national committee (CNC) to make this weekend’s party conference a policy indaba.

National leaders who have been meeting for two tense days decided less than 24 hours before the conference began to recommend that it should focus on policies and the constitution, and exclude elections.

The prospect of elections has divided the party into two factions, one supporting founding president Mosiuoa Lekota and the other his deputy, Mbhazima Shilowa.

Cope national spokesperson Phillip Dexter told the Mail & Guardian that the party would now hold a “proper, inclusive conference”.

“The CNC has converted the conference to a policy conference and we will elect leaders at the end of September,” said Dexter.

A staunch Lekota supporter, Dexter said a process was under way to include some of the branches disqualified by the branch audit team and that provinces threatening to boycott the conference would now attend.

Several CNC members said that Gauteng chairperson John Ngcebetsha came up with the proposal to proceed with the conference, while deferring elections.

“But he said delegates should be given an opportunity to ratify the proposal of postponing elections, rather than the CNC deciding on their behalf,” said a CNC member.

Risk
Although the decision could be seen as a victory for the Lekota group, which has been pushing for a postponement, there is a risk of delegates rejecting the proposal and forging ahead with elections.

The majority of accredited delegates want Shilowa as Cope’s new president. If they vote for elections this weekend, Lekota will lose heavily.

“It will be up to delegates whether they accept or reject the proposal,” said a CNC member close to Shilowa.

“That was our plan because we didn’t want them to continue with the court interdict or walk out of this week’s CNC meeting.”

Another Lekota lobbyist, also an MP, said his group was happy with the compromise because it meant that the two sides agreed that the party was not ready for an elective conference.

“Our Plan B was always that, if we meet them halfway, we will agree to a policy conference and then set a date for elections.”

‘A political problem in the organisation’
Meanwhile, Cope has apparently struggled to convince prominent “people of integrity” to attend the conference.

KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Phillip Mhlongo said at the tense CNC meeting on Wednesday that the leadership wrangles had been so dirty that Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former director general in the Presidency Frank Chikane refused to be associated with the party.

Three other CNC sources confirmed that Tutu, Chikane and former minister of public works Thoko Didiza had turned down Cope invitations.

“These are credible South Africans who have never betrayed the truth. It means there’s a political problem in the organisation,” said Mhlongo.

Tutu’s spokesperson, Tamu Matose, said Cope had asked whether the archbishop would address the conference, but that he had never agreed to do so.

Didiza denied being approached or that she was a Cope member.

The M&G was also told that there is likely to be a purge of Lekota-aligned MPs after new leaders are elected, with the party’s parliamentary list being amended.