By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Congress of the People (COPE) has confirmed that it has terminated the membership of now former deputy president Willie Madisha.
Madisha was served with papers today and has also been asked to return all party possessions.
He is accused of “unauthorised actions”, which include convening unconstitutional meetings and conferences, abusing party resources, and acting as imposters in positions which were not approved by the congress national committee.
Madisha can appeal the decision with the Acting General Secretary within 14 days.
Fullview undertands that Madisha was expelled at the meeting held by the group aligned to party leader Terror Lekota.
COPE Spokesperson Dennis Bloem, who is a supporter of Madisha, says he knows nothing about this.
Lekota and Madisha were not immediately available for comment.
A factional battle centred around Lekota and Madisha peaked in August last year when they announced the suspension of each other from the party.
A lack of structures on the ground and infighting between its leaders has been responsible for the drop in support for the party, whose critics see it as being former president Thabo Mbeki’s creation.
COPE was launched in 2008 after Mbeki’s defeat to Jacob Zuma as ANC president at the party’s national conference in Polokwane by his supporters who left the governing party.
Lekota was involved in a vicious battle with Cope co-founder Mbhazima Shilowa, which saw the latter leave the party in 2010.
Cope had to set up interim structures in eight of nine provinces after the local government elections in November, when an internal assessment identified the lack of branches as a major weakness, but this process has itself become controversial, with Lekota challenging their legitimacy.
A year after its formation, Cope had its best election result, garnering 7.42% of the vote, with over a million South Africans voting for the newly formed opposition party. It received 30 seats in Parliament.
During the 2014 national elections, Cope’s electoral performance drastically declined with the formation of more opposition parties, such as the EFF. The party received only 0.23% of the votes as it amassed less than 10% of the million-plus votes it got five years prior. Owing to its measly 123 235 votes in 2014, Cope’s seats in Parliament dropped from 30 to three.
During the 2019 national elections, the votes further declined, with just over 40 000 South African citizens throwing their weight behind the party. The party saw a further decline in Parliamentary seats, this time only receiving two seats.