Cope president Mosiuoa Lekota’s political journey as the leader of the party will come to an end after the May 29 national and provincial election.
Lekota says after the much-awaited elections, the party will convene a congress where he will pass the baton to a new president. “At that congress, I will not be available for re-election. But I will remain active as a member of the party.”
When asked about the legacy he leaves behind, Lekota deflected with the grace of a seasoned politician. “My performance? Oh, the congress will sort that out.”
Lekota, who prides himself on being the architect of the Cope odyssey, reminisced about when he heroically split from the ANC, after feeling that the governing party had veered off the path laid out in the Freedom Charter in 1955.
“We moved for the setting up of Cope because the Congress of the People of 1955 had indicated that when freedom came, we would adopt a constitution that largely embodied the contents of the Freedom Charter, declaring that South Africa belongs to all, which meant the end of apartheid.
“We had been part of that process, and it was when we felt that the ANC was veering away from its objectives by electing the leadership that it did when we went to Polokwane,” he said, referring to former president Jacob Zuma’s election as ANC president at the Polokwane national conference in 2007.
“We felt it was not remaining on the path that it should. We then served divorce papers and left.”
Lekota said that what followed after Polokwane had now become what the ANC calls the “nine wasted years”.
“We did say before then that the ANC was losing itself in those years under the leadership of Zuma and President Cyril Ramaphosa as his then-deputy. During that period, the ANC lost its credibility, and even today it is very damaged.”
Lekota lamented that Cope’s progress and growth was thwarted by the ANC’s undercover agents. “Some of those who were planted were even taken back by the ANC or given positions to lead missions abroad.”
Lekota said it was a betrayal of the Freedom Charter that the ANC continued to identify itself in its name as belonging to “Africans”.
“It continues to refer to people as white, Indian or coloured. Why? These people are called coloureds; from which country do they come? These people are called Indians, how long are they going to be Indians for, and are they not South Africans?”
He said the national question was one the ANC should have dealt with at the beginning.
Lekota was also critical that the ANC had summoned Zuma for disciplinary proceedings because he was campaigning for the uMkhonto we Sizwe Party.
“Now they are taking Zuma back, and they are going to try him because he is no longer loyal to the ANC. Now they say they are trying him because his membership is still there.”
As he prepares to pass the baton, Lekota said: “Remain faithful to the service of the people. Please do not betray the oath of office that you took today and forever.”
