Where to now? "COPE-ing with a Heartfelt headache"

Most members of COPE, especially those who were at the battle of Heartfelt, woke up with a massive hangover this December even before the festive season started properly. This one was not caused by alcohol, but by the acute realisation that too much factionalism had taken its toll. With 2 "Presidents", like those who have over-indulged, members and the general public think COPE is seeing double.

It's an illusion of course, but for the public, it is a massive confusion. COPE has been thrown into a communications and public relations nightmare. Our detractors are once again predicting our imminent demise. As a party, we do need to thank loyal COPE members and supporters for sticking by their party even though it has cost them dearly. These will ensure that COPE does not die. The challenge we all face is; where to from here?

We should be the first to admit that in the heat of a political fight, we pull no punches. Having witnessed the recent acts of political carnage in the SACP, the ANC and COSATU, we thought that COPE would be different. We all said that it would be. We said we would; 'defend the Constitution, the rule of law, fight corruption, restore hope and bring change'. While we have done some of that, we have also, collectively, done a lot of damage to South Africa's hope for change and believe in a real alternative to the corruption, patronage and mediocrity of the ruling party.

Instead, in their quest for political office, some of COPE's leaders have undermined the party's constitution, some have broken the law and some have tolerated and even promoted corruption and patronage. As for hope and change, this message has gotten completely lost.

The reasons for this are complex and have been explained many times before. But to the public, this matters little. Theirs is a simple request; 'sort out this leadership squabble and get a move on. We need a strong, alternative party to counter the degenerate ruling party. Thus far COPE has seemed too preoccupied with internal issues to care about the voters'.

The challenge is for leadership to take us beyond this crisis, but to do so we must analyze the problem correctly. Where does this leadership squabble begin? Some would have us believe that it is simply a fight between Shilowa and Lekota, with a list of possible '3rd way candidates' entering the fray every now and then. It may have started out that way, but now it is a fight for the soul of the party, its values and its ideology.

The choice is simple; will COPE be another corrupt, undemocratic, elitist party, or will it be a radical party of democracy, integrity, accountability, transparency and one orientated to the needs of the poor. Like it or not, the two primary candidates, Shilowa and Lekota, have come to represent these two different tendencies.

Because we have disagreed on who represents which, we must design a process going forward to ensure that our members and the public make informed choices. We must act swiftly and move on to preparing for the adjourned National Congress and for local government elections. To facilitate this, all the reported acts of alleged intimidation, credentials fraud and financial impropriety must be made public and the hearings dealing with these as well. This includes the breakaway "Congress". Decisive and appropriate action must be taken against those who have been found guilty.

COPE brought together a cross section of South African people and political experiences.  Shilowa and some of his supporters behavior is a manifestation of the rot present of today's political landscape. It was almost inevitable that it would manifest itself within COPE. The presence of this rot justifies the existence of COPE and reaffirms its reason for being.

After having crippled the party for over a year, COPE is now showing its difference from the liberation movement by acting decisively against and working out corrupt and mediocre elements. Even though it seems like the party has almost collapsed and is in total chaos, a good thing is happening and the battle of Heartfelt might have just meant a battle won against political gangsterism and crookedness, not just for COPE, but for the entire country.

We in COPE must revive the spirit of the National Convention, of the COPE founding Congress and prepare for local government with a clear message to voters. The essence of that message must be what we presented to the electorate in 2009, but we must also offer a clear, radical agenda to transform local government itself and deal with our lacklustre economy.

Jobs cannot be created and poverty cannot be dealt with when the economy is so systemically orientated towards the interests of the banks, monopolies and giant corporations, aided by the politically well connected of the ruling party. The choices in this regard are not easy as there will be consequences, but we must act to ensure that we do not keep talking about change without ever making sure that it happens.

For this to happen, leadership must take responsibility for what has happened inside the party. We have been too lenient, for the sake of abstract "unity" and have allowed political gangsterism to run riot in COPE. Leadership must now lead. Its time to clean out the trash and to build a party with members who live the values and vision of COPE.

Fortunately, most of these undesirable elements voted to leave COPE at Heartfelt when they convened a unconstitutional meeting under a tree to "elect" their leadership. Whatever these are now, they are not COPE. If they want to return to the fold, they must do so accepting that they can serve in no leadership position until they have proven their loyalty to the party. Now that these elements have left, our priorities must be with immediate effect:

• Clarifiying the vision and the articulating the policies of the party, while aligning the membership and this vision
• Ensuring crisp, clear communications that assist democratic processes in the party and that inform the public of COPEs views and actions
• Building lean and mean structures in which all who choose to can participate in the life of the party
• Running campaigns around pertinent issues facing society, such as unemployment, corruption and poor services,
• Resourcing the party
• Practising zero tolerance for factionalism, corruption, patronage and poor performance and promoting unity in action
• Making a call to action to the membership and general public to identify suitable activists in their community to stand as COPE candidates for the local government elections.

COPE has an historical role to play to defend and consolidate our democracy, our constitution and ensure our country is a home for all South Africans. Let us not falter now that the battle for the future of the party has been won.

Phillip Dexter, COPE Head of Communications, writes in his personal capacity.

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