Reverend Allan Boesak is expected to join the Congress of the People (Cope) on Tuesday during the last day of the party’s inaugural conference.
Boesak is expected to be chosen as the party’s second deputy president in a bid to beef up Western Cape representation in the top leadership of the party.
In 2000 he was jailed for fraud but was released in 2001, having served just more than one year of his three-year sentence. Since his release from jail he has received a presidential pardon and has been highly critical of the African National Congress (ANC).
Cope leaders say Boesak will help them secure the votes of coloured people, a vital constituency in the Western Cape, and give them a boost in the provincial elections next year. In Cope’s organisational report, general secretary Charlotte Lobe complained about the party not being able to secure enough support in minority communities.
A position of second deputy president was created to ensure the party top leadership includes a woman, but despite efforts by Cope interim president Mosioua Lekota and his deputy, Mbhazima Shilowa, they could not convince former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka to be a leader in the party.
On Tuesday the party is expected to finally clear up its leadershipo question by submitting a list of leaders to the conference, which it will ask delegates to endorse without elections.
The conference is expected to adopt its resolutions on Tuesday before delegates go to the Bloemfontein Cricket Stadium in the afternoon, where a rally will be held.
Concerns about security for the rally kept Cope leaders in closed meetings on Monday night after a stand-off between Cope supporters, the police and ANC supporters at the University of the Free State campus, where the Cope conference is being held. Bloemfontein police told Cope organisers that they didn’t have the capacity to ensures the motorcade travelling from the conference venue to the cricket stadium will be secure, and extra security was hurriedly organised on Monday night.
ANC president Jacob Zuma is due to address an ANC rally in Mangaung outside Bloemfontein in celebration of Reconcilaitaion Day.
Leadership structure
The party decided in the morning session of the conference on Monday that its top six leaders will consist of a president, two deputy presidents, a secretary general, a deputy secretary general and the treasurer general.
The first deputy president will be expected to deal with international issues and liaise with the international community, while the other will focus on domestic issues.
The top leadership structure will also have six members who will head committees. In addition, three leaders from each province, including a Facebook region, will be elected to join the national leadership. The final leadership group will consist of 64 members.
Lekota on Monday confirmed that the membership fee for Cope will remain R30, despite complaints by delegates that the fee is too expensive.
”This organisation doesn’t have billionaires. These people [Cope members] pay annually more than that for soccer fan clubs.”