Congress of the People (Cope) second deputy president Lynda Odendaal on Tuesday resigned from both the party and Parliament.
The party’s national spokesperson, Phillip Dexter, confirmed that Odendaal had resigned, but was not in a position to go into details, because the party was still waiting for reasons for her resignation. “We just heard about the resignation and we are busy preparing a statement,” said Dexter.
Odendaal refused to speak to the Mail & Guardian, referring all queries to Dexter. It was not clear why she had resigned. Her political career was one of the shortest in the country.
She was a surprise choice for the top-level leadership of the party at Cope’s inaugural conference in Bloemfontein, a month after she joined the ANC breakaway party as a volunteer organiser. She resigned from her job as CEO at Network Support Solutions, a Sandton-based information technology company, immediately after her appointment as Cope’s deputy president in December.
Cope had been vocal about the need for diversity among its leadership, and informed delegates at the conference that the party needed a woman who was not traditionally from the ANC and who would appeal to minority groups. Odendaal turned out to be the woman Cope needed, and though she quickly admitted that she was new to politics, she vowed to learn fast.
Besides efforts to operate on the same level with other experienced party leaders, it was evident that Odendaal was still battling to get to grips with politics. The rallies that she addressed were seldom fully attended and the media interest in her died down way before the April elections. Cope rivals referred to her as a token chosen by Cope to boost the party’s image of accommodating all South Africans.
Odendaal helped Cope set up information systems such as emails for the leaders, as well as the new website, and called on her business contacts to help with office furniture and equipment for the party.