By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Congress of the People (COPE) leader Mosiuoa Lekota says his party remains a viable alternative to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) as the country prepares to go to the elections.
On Tuesday, Lekota addressed a press briefing in Johannesburg, where he accused the current administration of failing to improve the lives of South Africans.
“What is happening now is not what we wanted to have then (before the advent of democracy). The Congress of the People is a growing child, the party will not pass. The ANC is very old, that is why they now confess to lying to the people. Those lies will not become the reality, the future is what will become the reality.
“I have no doubt that Cope will become the dream our forebears dreamt in 1955.”
The party has seen dwindling support and factional fighting, which led to the dismissal of senior party members, including Willie Madisha, Dennis Bloem and Colleen Makhubele.
But Lekota maintains the party will not die.
“The people want something different. They definitely don’t want this, I didn’t go to Robben Island so that we could have the nonsense we having here.
“We spent some of the best years of our lives in Pretoria prison, Sun City, and Robben island. What is happening? Is this what we wanted for our people? Definitely not.” he added.
Lekota has also distanced his party from the South African Rainbow Alliance (Sara), saying it has no plans to enter into a coalition with the party.
Makhubele and Ofentse Moalusi were expelled from the party last year after forming Sara.
“We have distanced ourselves from the Sara issue. We are not part of Sara. We have not entered into any coalition discussions with anybody.”
Lekota said some members suggested the two parties work together, but this was quickly dismissed because they were “not on the same wavelength”
He suggested the party would hold off on coalition negotiations until after the elections.
“It is important to know what the electorate want done, rather than being promised water but getting cholera instead.”
Lekota said the party is calling for a change in the country’s electoral system arguing that South Africans must be given a chance to personally choose their own president.
“We want to amplify once again our call for a constitutional amendment for voters to directly elect the president of our country, instead of using the procedures under the current party list system that promotes party interests above the interests of the people of our land.
“This change should also apply to premiers and mayors. We adopted this position in 2008 and consistently repeated it in all our election manifestos,” he said.
The Constitution does not allow for the direct election of the head of state.
According to Lekota, retaining the present electoral system will give South Africans more abysmal failures as presidents.
The national debt has soared, and the debt servicing costs, according to the National Treasury of South Africa, will, as a percentage of the main budget revenue, increase from 18% in 2022/23 to 19.8% in 2025/26 – and is expected to average R366.8-billion a year over the medium-term.