Dandala: I offered to resign

The Congress of the People’s (Cope) parliamentary leader, Mvume Dandala, had offered to resign from the position because of internal squabbles that threatened to rip apart the party.

Dandala admitted on Wednesday that he had communicated his offer at the recent Congress National Committee (CNC) meeting, but later agreed to stay.

‘The issue that prompted my decision was when I developed a sense of uncertainty about whether the decision to nominate me as a presidential candidate was transparent.

”I offered and I said, ‘if it will help us to build the party, I offer to resign’,” Dandala said. ‘The debate at CNC seemed to raise questions about the process followed in my nomination as a presidential candidate.”

Dandala told the media at a luncheon he hosted in Johannesburg that he later withdrew the offer to resign, after he was assured that his selection to be the face of Cope’s election campaign was a decision of the CNC and was not imposed on the party by a few individuals.

‘It was when that became abundantly clear that I withdrew my offer to resign,” said Dandala.

The CNC meeting, which was described by Cope leaders as ‘robust” and ‘honest”, resulted in senior party leaders finally admitting that there were leadership divisions that needed urgent attention.

Dandala said the nature of the discussions at the meeting was such that ‘all of us had to think about the party first” and that was the main driver behind his offer to step down. The Mail & Guardian understands that it took a day and a half for CNC members to discuss the divisions in the party and Dandala’s perceived poor performance as a parliamentary leader.

The former cleric’s leadership style has been described as too soft for parliamentary politics and his suitability for the position was questioned.

A CNC member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the M&G that while Dandala was criticised for being ineffective as a parliamentary leader, his detractors agreed that his personality was different from that of other hardcore politicians.

‘He has not been cooked in the dirty world of politics, he keeps quiet even where he needs to talk,” said the CNC member.

The M&G also learned that it was the Eastern Cape that led efforts to convince Dandala to stay in the position.

‘Some people were saying [Mosiuoa] Lekota should go to Parliament as a parliamentary leader, the Congress Working Committee [CWC] would then decide where to place Dandala,” said the CNC source.

The M&G understands that the debate to recall Dandala and send Lekota to Parliament was led by the party’s head of the labour sector, Willy Madisha, and the head of policy, Smuts Ngonyama.

Dandala was ‘persuaded to stay”, said Cope’s CWC member, because it would have been a public relations nightmare to allow him to resign.

‘It would have confirmed speculations that we did not have trust in him and wanted him out,” said a CWC member. ‘We won’t just get rid of him.”

On Wednesday Dandala conceded that the business of Parliament was not an easy task.

‘Those of us who have never been in Parliament are astounded at the amount of administration work that needs to be done.”

He, however, said Cope’s deputy president Mbhazima Shilowa’s experience as a member of the Gauteng provincial legislature and the province’s premier has helped in providing guidance on how things are done. Shilowa is the party’s chief whip in Parliament.

Dandala expressed his confidence in Cope’s parliamentary team as MPs prepare to report back after a two-week recess.