Congress of the People (Cope) dissidents in the Eastern Cape, who have formed a parallel leadership structure, said this week that they would continue to defy the party’s interim leaders in the province, headed by Andile Nkuhlu.
Despite this, a two-day meeting between Cope’s congress working committee (CWC) and the party’s Eastern Cape provincial interim leadership resulted in a statement saying there had been progress in resolving the power struggles.
The struggles have divided the party into two camps, one supporting interim president Mosiuoa Lekota, the other his deputy, Mbhazima Shilowa.
The dissidents were adamant that they would not dissolve the parallel structure, as the CWC demanded.
They refused to meet the CWC jointly with Nkuhlu’s interim leadership because ”we have passed a motion of no confidence in them”, said the structure’s secretary, Sipho Mkwayi. He accused the CWC of treating the interim leaders better than the disgruntled members.
Mkwayi said his team was yet to state its case before Cope’s congress national committee.
National spokesperson Philip Dexter said the group had been given a chance to talk. But the chair of the parallel structure, Mzwandile Bula, said there had not been a formal meeting.