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Following the party’s dismal performance in the recent local government elections, the Congress of the People’s (Cope) senior members are calling for new leadership to rescue the party and to take it on a different path.
Cope’s performance in the August elections was woeful – the party dropped from 3% of the votes (263 seats) it secured in the local government polls in 2011 to 0.44% which translated to a mere 45 councillors across the country.
City Press has seen internal Cope documents written by senior leaders who are blaming the party’s top leadership for the poor performance. They want new leadership to be elected as soon as February next year to “prevent the party from further decline and take us to the national elections of 2019”.
One such document, written by party spokesperson Dennis Bloem was presented to the meeting of the party’s central national committee [an executive committee of 60 members] in its meeting two weekends ago.
For many years, Bloem has been known to be a strong supporter and confidant of Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota.
But in his document he wrote that Lekota must take full responsibility for what is happening in Cope, while claiming the party did not have an election strategy and a plan going into the August elections.
“I must be frank and blunt to say that there is no vision and direction from Cope national leadership (central executive committee). I must repeat it again in this report that our secretariat is dysfunctional. This is the weakest link in Cope,” wrote Bloem.
“I am always saying that a car without an engine can never move. If the secretariat in an organisation is active and functioning that organisation will be effective. But I must also point out that the presidency is also in a state of non-functionality,” he added.
Bloem reveals in the letter that he has previously written to Lekota raising concerns about “the dysfunctionality of the secretariat”.
“The president never gave attention to my letter or responded to this concern. Instead the situation deteriorated from bad to worse.”
Bloem claimed in the document that the national leadership of Cope “messed up” and disregarded the party’s constitution which led to “the lack of direction on the election campaign”.
Bloem confirmed to City Press that he authored the document and that he presented it to the CEC meeting last month. He said it was noted but referred to the next meeting of the structure which will be held in December, for discussion.
Bloem said he spoke out in the interest of seeing Cope arresting its decline.
Cope chairperson in the Free State, Papi Kganare, in a letter dated August 9, addressed to the central executive committee, wrote that he was “really disappointed at the casual manner the central executive committee [top six members] is treating the issue of the outcome of the local government elections”.
“There is no sign of urgency; in the same manner the CEC handled the elections campaign. I am of the impression that the CEC has decided to completely kill the party but is not taking members into confidence,” he wrote.
“We can’t allow the party to die in our hands. If we allow business as usual, committed people will resign and those who don’t care will remain … because they get their income irrespective of their performance.”
Kganare also confirmed writing the letter, but refused to discuss its contents with City Press saying it was meant to be an internal discussion. He registered his disappointment that the letter was leaked to the media.
Patrick Sikhutshi, the chairperson of Cope in Limpopo, did not mind discussing the letter he wrote to the party’s national leadership on August 3, the day of the local government elections.
He wrote: “I have heard leaders of other parties saying how hard they have campaigned for this local government election. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the Congress of the People…”
Sikhutshi predicted in his letter that Cope’s performance would be dismal.
He too called for an early conference “to set a clear process to rebuild the party that would live to the expectations of its members and the people of our country”.
Sikhutshi told City Press: “There is a sense of denial from the leadership of the party. He said while Lekota made remarks about his letter, the top leadership is not addressing the concerns raised.
“I am very disappointed,” he said.
Lekota declined to comment on the document authored by Bloem saying it has to be discussed by the party first.
He dismissed the letters authored by the two provincial chairpersons, saying they were merely stating their personal views and not the views of the provinces they lead.
Lekota said Cope was in the process of rebuilding and he indicated that the elective conference may only take place in 2018. “A congress will happen but you must first have branch meetings, regional and provincial congresses before that,” he said.
