ANC loses support to Cope
2008-11-13
May Saal
“THE leadership in the ANC has became politically crazy. We resigned from the party due to the corruption in the local and provincial elections earlier this year,” said Dan Kotze, suspended chairperson of the ANC in the Boland, at a meeting last week in Paarl. At the meeting the names of 900 members who have allegedly resigned from the ANC in Drakenstein to join the new party of Mosioua Le- kota, the Congress of the People (Cope), were submitted. About 100 branch executive committees attended a meeting in the Annunciation Hall, Paarl East, with posters and freedom songs confirming their support for the new party. Kotze accused the ANC of lacking democracy en losing direction in leadership. “The leaders of the ANC have their own hidden agendas now. We have no trust in the leadership of the ANC and they disrespect the constitution. “The people sitting here represent 12 branches in the Drakenstein. We will join the new party of which Mosiua Lekota is the leader,” Kotze emphasised. Among those who resigned was Edmund Pheko, a proportional representative councillor at Cape Winelands District Municipality. The five councillors expelled from the Drakenstein Municipal Council have stated that they will be contesting the by-election on 10 December. Veteran ANC member from Mbekweni, Lizzie Phike (70) who has also resigned from the ANC, said that she felt something was wrong in the ANC and that people needed an alternative. Kotze also said that these were not symbolic resigna- tions. “We have pages where people wrote their name and ID numbers and we will send them to the National Executive of the ANC, because we do not recognise the Provincial Executive of the ANC. We did not elect them,” Kotze said. “When we leave here, we have to prepare for the by-elections and also make people aware of the new party. “We will put all our energy together to make sure we will govern,” Kotze said. The five by-elections which will take place on 10 December are due to the expulsion of councillors Dan Kotze, Van der Berg Pienaar, Frans Koopman, Claud Julies and Spasie Kika, who supported a motion of no confidence in the mayor, deputy mayor and speaker which was submitted by the opposition. This motion was declared invalid at a special council meeting because there was insufficient support after the expulsion of the five councillors. A sixth councillor who also signed the motion withdrew his signature and was not expelled as councillor.
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