Mosiuoa Lekota was on Monday officially served notice of the Congress of the People’s vote of no confidence in him as its president, taken during its policy congress over the weekend.
Party spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said Cope had also filed notice of its intention to urgently appeal against a Johannesburg High Court ruling on Saturday that no elections take place at the conference.
An aide earlier indicated that Lekota had been advised to wait for official word from Cope general secretary Charlotte Lobe before deciding whether to proceed with legal action.
Lekota could not be reached for comment on Monday night. Neither could his spokesperson Phillip Dexter, who was also served with official notice of a vote of no confidence in him as Cope’s head of communication.
Lekota and Dexter had been removed from both their positions and their membership of the party’s congress national committee (CNC), said Ngwema.
“This means they are no longer members of any the national leadership structure of the organisation,” he said.
Court challenge?
Lobe would convene a CNC meeting where the decision would be discussed and the possible future deployment of Lekota and Dexter would be discussed.
“The former president is expected to vacate his office within 48 hours,” said Ngwema.
Lekota and a handful of his staff showed up for work at the Cope offices in Braamfontein, Johannesburg on Monday. Its “new” leadership had give the rest of the staff and officials the day off.
Lekota told journalists he remained party president and would challenge his removal in court.
He would soon call a meeting of the CNC to map a way forward for the party, but first had to ensure there was no confusion over his position.
“[If] the CNC have to operate as they should, there must be a setting aside of another president or two presidents … once the court confirms then all of us will fall in line.”
Ngwema maintained that the party acted within its rights in that the high court interdict barred only elections, and that the resolution taken to remove Lekota was valid.
“The ruling said the congress will continue, it will do all things that [a] congress does including taking resolutions. Now the former president is seeking to change even that,” he said.
Lekota — the country’s former defence minister and a former premier of the Free State — led a breakaway from the ANC to form Cope in October 2008.
He was joined by Mbhazima Shilowa, the then Gauteng premier, who although selected as Lekota’s deputy was even in the party’s infancy tipped to take over as leader.
Friction
There was talk of friction between them almost from the start, but this intensified in the run-up to the party’s inaugural elective conference, which was to have been held this weekend.
After wrangling between the Lekota and Shilowa camps last week, a compromise was struck changing the conference to a policy gathering –the outcome Lekota and his supporters had wanted.
However, Lekota went to court on Saturday after delegates adopted a resolution on Friday night to hold elections. While court proceedings for the Lekota’s urgent application to interdict the elections was taking place, Shilowa accepted a nomination for president at the congress and Lekota was removed.
The court ordered that an elective congress be held no sooner than the end of September, and this after a process had been held which included all Cope party structures in the nomination of leaders for election.
Ngwema held that Lekota had acted against Cope by “representing a different view from everybody else”.
“When two people [Lekota and Dexter] have a different view from everybody else in the party, and when those two people speak against the party … then we needed to find other people to represent the views of the party.”
Ngwema said Shilowa, in his capacity as the party chief whip, and Cope’s leader in Parliament Dr Mvume Dandala, had signed the party’s audited financial report which was to be handed to the secretary of Parliament on Monday.
Shilowa had invited members of the public to scrutinise the report after it was made public. – Sapa