I'm certain that most COPE members were met by dismay and unbelief in reading president's Lekota insinuations that there was something unbecoming in the manner Cope in parliament has been spending the public funds allocated to it.
It would be good to clear the confusion first. The allowances that are allocated to the parties by the IEC are under the management of the party's treasury, in this case Ms Hilda Ndude. The allowances to the caucus / constituency are under the management of the party leader in parliament, in this case Dr. Mvume Dandala.
All parties are required by the Financial Management of Parliament Act (Act 10 of 2009) to submit before 30 May each year audited financial statements in respect of the application of its Constituency Allowance for the year ending 31 March.
The president of a party is within his right to demand the audited reports of their said party. This means that president Lekota is within his rights to do so with COPE in the parliament. Common sense though would dictate that the party president demands a forensic audit after he has seen the audited statements and discovered irregularities, or something of that sort. Party procedure also demands that the president raising his concerns should be done within the party structures first.
The recent statement (29 April 2010) by the General Secretary, Charlotte Lobe, and Dr. Mvume said that concerns about how the party was spending its allocations in parliament were raised within the CNC. Subsequently a due process was explained on how they would be presented to the president in due time.
There's nothing wrong with airing the party's problems, this can only serve to strengthen it when it is done in a proper manner and solutions are conducted in a fair and transparent way. What is wrong is for a president of the party to undermine it. I question the bona fides of the president in raising his concerns with the media when the issues are still under consideration by the party executive. It smacks of opportunism and present the president as being desperate. In fact, by doing so, and in saying the party has been mismanaged, the president publicly admitted that he has either failed on his oversight duties, or does not understand them at all. Either that, or there was an ulterior motive of wanting to discredit the reputations of his colleagues and executive.
Beyond that, it is now clear to every Dick and Harry that COPE is effectively operating with two parallel structures. As members we receive accusations and counter accusations from one high office to the other. What the office of the GS does or say the office of the presidency mostly disputes and will release counter statements under the management of the head of communication, Phillip Dexter. The situation is clearly untenable and cannot be condoned as robust democratic process. It is presenting the party as a house divided within itself.
The majority of COPE followers see no way to remedy the situation except that the party goes to the elective congresses, where legitimate structures to lead the party forward will be elected, as soon as possible.
Meantime, as a committed member of the organisation I'm sure I speak for many when I voice my deep disappointment and disgust with the manner by which the interim leadership we tasked at Bloemfontein with preparing us for the elective conferences has conducted itself in the recent months. I think they've not only mostly dismally failed to fulfil our expectations, but rather put the party on the regression mode similar to that some were running away from the ANC. They've brought the party into serious dispute that may take years, if ever, to repair for the general public to accord COPE its full sympathetic support.
In this country we are currently experiencing deep seated leadership problem. What is imperative for the members of COPE is not to allow this to translate into a crisis of confidence on our party and its mission on South African politics. When I listen to ordinary members I'm still assured that we'll weather the storm and shape this party after its founding values. My hope for the party is here.
It is now more obvious that this will require more hard work. More than anything it requires us to purge and get rid of the nonredeemable bad elements within our organisation that refuse to adopt operate within the ambit of our values; who are too entrenched within the reprehensible ways of doing things they learned from their previous parties.
When Jimmy Carter was running for president in 1976, he said again and again that America needed "a government as good as its people." The same can be said of our country; our political culture is not in line with our social spirit, and is mismatched to the possibilities of our nation. The rage and frustration of a people let down by feckless political leadership is mushrooming all over the country. Further still more anger is about the fact that the gap between our potential and our reality is opening up, not closing. We need a coherent political culture that is speaks to who we are, and what we want to become as the nation more than ever.
No road to anything authentic is ever easy, this includes real democracy and matured politics within our party and country. What is required, when not operating in a conducive atmosphere, is to operate within the flaws and limits of the current to get where we want to go and make a difference. That is the bravest for those who refuse to be discouraged. In the meantime it would help if we all tell no lies and claim no easy victories, as the wise saying goes.
In the coming elective congresses COPE will get its last chance to convince the general public that it is a credible vehicle for the country to fulfill this mission, or it'll be the beginning of its real end. The power to elect which course the party will take now rests with us as ordinary members of COPE. May we choose wisely.
Mphuthumi Ntabeni is a manager and researcher for the Cope Western Cape Provincial Parliament Office. He writes on his personal behalf.
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