Cope places party president Mosiuoa Lekota on suspension

Cope deputy president Willie Madisha made the announcement at a media briefing in Kempton Park on Monday.

Party spokesperson Denis Bloem says Lekota has been placed on precautionary suspension, not only for sowing divisions, but also for alleged corruption and promoting the removal of elected leaders. 

“He promotes and supports actions against which Cope was formed, those actions include corruption, removal of elected leaders and representatives such as councillors.

“The Cope national leadership advised him on several occasions that given his lack of energy and strength to lead the party at the moment, he must step back. Although he agreed on all those occasions, he did not do so."

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“Given his health conditions, he is not able to perform what the party and all South Africans expect him to do, which is to attend to the work of Parliament.”

However, Lekota has hit back at the party’s leadership for his suspension, saying the move 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. 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.”