Ailing Congress of the People (Cope) leader Mosiuoa Lekota has poured cold water over his suspension letter and charged that it holds no water.
“The letter I received telling me that it is suspending me, it’s of people who have no status in telling me that they are suspending me,” Lekota said during a radio interview on Monday.
“I don’t know, it is not in the letterhead of the party. It’s some strange letterhead that I don’t even know. So I don’t think that you should be hanging much on that.”
His remarks follow the confirmation from party leaders that Lekota has been suspended from the political party he founded over a decade ago when he left the ANC.
Lekota is accused of sowing internal divisions and is said to be lacking the strength and energy to lead the party, once touted as a possible alternative to the ruling ANC. He is also accused of meddling in the selection of party councillors.
There is also consensus that Lekota has failed to show strong leadership in the past months and that he has violated the constitution of Cope by doing so.
Calls for him to call it a day grew louder early this month when members of the constituency congress committee in Gauteng asked that he step down.
Mxolisi Ntobela, the party’s secretary in Ekurhuleni, said Cope members still respect the veteran politician who spent time on Robben Island from 1974 to 1982 for his involvement in student politics.
Cope spokesperson Denis Bloem said the founder of the party has been placed on precautionary suspension for alleged corruption and promoting the removal of elected leaders.
“It is him who wrote the affidavit on the 19th to support the removal of comrade Khalipa [and] supporting comrade Thomas Mofokeng. By doing so, we are saying that he cannot be conflicted as a leader of the party,” said Bloem.
“He promotes and supports actions against which Cope was formed, those actions include corruption, removal of elected leaders and representatives such as councillors.”
Lekota is expected to be subjected to a disciplinary hearing that will likely seal his fate in politics.
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