Let us be generous and say everything Simon Grindrod says in his letter of resignation to the General Secretary of Cope is true. We are still left with a nudging question, cui bono? Who benefits by this recycling every criticism that was ever slung on Cope after he decided to resign from being active on its leadership structures? What motivates him? What is Grindrod after in this painting of himself as a diligent Hercules who was prevented from cleaning the dirty stables of Cope by certain individuals, some of whom he names, in its leadership?
It is clear from his letter that Grindrod has an axe to grind against the individuals in the leadership of Cope, and not the organization and its followers per se, whom, together with himself, he pities for being duped:
"It is becoming my view that a great fraud has been perpetrated against the South African electorate and I will no longer be part of leading it. I now regard the rhetoric of ‘deepening democracy' as totally baseless and regret being overwhelmed by the exciting potential this had for our country. I regret even more that I convinced others likewise ... I have promoted and defended COPE on public platforms for many months. It is accordingly disappointing to experience firsthand the recent responses of fellow leaders on several issues of fundamental importance to the long term viability of the party."
Grindrod has chosen not to leave Cope but "remain an ordinary paid up member of COPE to await the day when the party recaptures its original beliefs and principles." He does not say how the party is suppose to capture this original spirit, but has decided to take himself out of the leadership equation for that arduous process, since he tried and failed. "Accordingly, as a matter of conscience, I resign from the national working committee (CWC) and national executive committee (CNC). I am no longer confident that leadership is either accountable or representative of the true needs and wishes of members."
I ask the question again, cui bono? Who benefits from all this? Certainly not Cope which, for a second time, is thrown into disarray by Grindrod's actions. Despite the pretence that he's doing this for the greater good of the party I'm pretty much sure Grindrod is aware the party would not benefit, not in a short term at least. Perhaps he sees himself as a prophet that will not be appreciated in his era but at a later date for saving Cope from itself.
Grindrod talks a lot about puppet masters pulling string behind the scenes of Cope, an insinuation directed at former president Thabo Mbeki at national level, and James Vumile Ngculu on provincial level. I think Grindrod forgets for a minute how Cope was formed (by breaking away from the ANC), and the last straw that led to that formation was the putsch against former president Mbeki. Is it natural that the breakaway members of the ANC be at the helm of Cope? Yes. Is it desirable that it be so forever? No. And some of us, especially those who were never part of the Tripartite Alliance, are doing everything in their power to change it, with assistance from some who were there sometimes.
Sure most of us came to Cope for different reasons: some seeking positions of power and money, others with greater excitement, naïve and cocksure perhaps; thinking that it'd be a haven for free spirits and flamboyant way of doing politics. We are now being rudely awakened to the fact that our project requires us to first establish, in our own party, the strong democratic culture we want to see extended to the rest of the country. We are realizing that there are no instant easy answers, or quick download for good democratic principles and ready made structures. We must build them ourselves. Luckily we seem to be up to the challenge and commitment to the party.
There's a time for talk and self-analysis. But self-analysis is no substitute for the practical actions we need to undertake in establishing democratic institutions, which alone can guarantee the freedoms we've gained and seek to consolidate. At this particular moment the best way of advancing this cause is to create a platform for a free and fair coalition of our different characters and aspirations, something which the coming elective conference is suppose to accomplish. Hopefully there we'll be able to democratically elect the representative leaders we want.
What is regrettable and prevalent within Cope, is the attitude of thinking only oneself is a proper leader; the inability to work with interim structures placed before us if they don't include our own selves. Interim structures by definition are flawed since they are not democratically elected, for one. And until Cope has proper structures on the ground, in good standing order, it has no ability to properly elect its leaders. This is why the only call that makes sense at this moment is that of building structures on the ground towards the elective conference.
As for the issue of former president Thabo Mbeki, every South African has a right to motivate themselves under any leader of their choice. Some of us get inspiration from his philosophy and writings (I am an African); others in the spirit of Mandela; others even in the pride of Black Consciousness as espoused by Steve Biko. Grindrod's problem with this betrays the distasteful tendency of wishing to prescribe and twist freedom to only one's own understanding. Democracy presupposes tolerance for other people's likes, even when this sometimes runs against our own grain.
Delving a little deeper into why Grindrod has chosen the media path to make his point one is left with the suspicion that it was done only to point a finger at Cope's leadership, and as a mode to revenge for what has happened since after elections. (This is not about deflecting criticism, as I've already indicated there's nothing new in what Grindrod is saying.)
It's no secret that Grindrod was extremely disappointed when he couldn't go to parliament. That decision was taken by the Cope provincial caucus, on which he sat, which wanted to bring someone from outside the Metro to balance the scales. Ideally this should have been foreseen from the beginning. The situation where seven provincial candidates coming from the Metro should not have been allowed, but since I don't know the criterion used to draw that list, I shall not labour the point.
For Grindrod to make himself holier than the rest of us; putting himself above it all as if he was against decisions, like putting Dr. Allan Boeask and Dr. Mvume Dandala, is hypocrisy of highest order. Those of us who remember, recall Grindrod as one of those who motivated for these decisions. Perhaps he was still on good terms then, with the leadership he now despises. Or could it be he now has found himself new masters. After all the people who are supposed to have asked him to resign as Deputy Mayor under the banner of the ID are now Cope's dissident puppet masters. They are the only ones Grindrod conveniently fails to name in his letter. Perhaps the puppet is now dancing to another tune.
Cope is in a painful stage of purging the fleas, thanks to the likes of Grindrod. We now have to get rid of the debris collected due to the quick manner by which the party was formed. Pruning is never nice, but a pruned tree gives forth full harvest in its due season. COPE will stand the test of time, because it is founded on timeless values, beyond the anger against the violations of our constitution. It'll grow because it is committed to uplifting the people of this land by constitutional values.
It might take a little longer than most of us anticipated, but those who stay will see the sunrise; in fact the new dawn is already incandescent on the morning skies. This is why those who acknowledge our potential are so afraid of its realisation. Let us not allow ourselves to be distracted, even by those who pretend to be acting our behalf.
Let us go to the trenches and dirty our hands to build this organization. We have far too many enemies who stand to benefit by our failure. In every democratic political organisation, people come and go for different reasons. Sometimes they don't find what they were looking for so they leave. That's the nature of things political. No political party is immune from leadership squabbles; it is the manner by which it resolves these that determines the character of a party.
There's no question about Grindrod's passion for freedom, but he also has purblind eye for conducting himself under material stress. He is, as the saying goes, too much of a manager of his own brand; utterly lacking in any sense of reticence, and given to too much rambling self-exposure. Perhaps at some stage he'll have to learn the value of political equipoise and constancy, which, by the way, are the sources of authority and trust.
In all relations, once the trust is lost you are just delaying the inevitable, which is why personally I no longer see any value in Grindrod staying with Cope. I also despise his tendency (which is naturally the trick of half-hearted dishonest dissidents who want to look like reformers) of taking a spark of truth and exaggerating and twisting it to serve his dubious purposes.
Grindrod's ultimate aim, I suspect, is to discredit and tarnish the present leadership of Cope to an extent that it stands no chance of re-election during the coming elective conference. I could even accept that as the normal democratic process, mudslinging your opponent and all, if I believed in Grindrod's commitment to the party. What has also come out clearly in all this is that Grindrod is a conniving opportunist. Not only is he positioning himself as a daring democrat, but he dares Cope's leadership to expel him so he may get additional stature of being a martyr. He's not only just conniving but shrewd.
Mphuthumi Ntabeni is COPE's head of research in the Western Cape legislature. This article first appeared on http://copetown.org/
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