I have over the recent period repeatedly raised a number of issues with the CWC of COPE that have left me deeply worried as the President of this organisation as it has failed to address these. These relate to the possible mismanagement of public funds and even possible fraud with relation to moneys allocated to the party through Parliament and the IEC.

All explanations given me thus far by the accounting officer in Parliament, the Deputy President of COPE, have been unsatisfactory to say the least.

I am of the view that much of the recent negative lobbying in the structures relates to an attempt to quickly remove the current leadership of the party in order to cover up these alleged irregular financial practices.

COPE has prided itself on being the standard bearer for anti-corruption and has the responsible management of public funds as one of its key founding principles. It is my firm view that unless COPE is free of corruption, it cannot take to government a quality it does not have. To govern cleanly, COPE must be clean.

I will leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of these issues. I have called for, and will institute a forensic audit of all these accounts. I am also aware of the fact that certain of the provinces face similar challenges. I call on the membership of the party to ensure that there is accountability with regard to these funds.

With regards to the behaviour of certain members and leaders of COPE, who have either made wild allegations or have insulted other leaders of the party, I only have the following to say; I intend to raise this issue at the next meeting of the CNC.

To this end and to brief the leadership of the party, I am calling an Extraordinary Meeting of the CNC, which will take place on the 1 May 2010. The agenda for this meeting will include these issues of financial management and the behaviour of certain of the leadership. I call on all members of COPE who love and value their organisation to stand firm for unity of the party and against the bullies, factionalists and other elements that are determined to wreck the party if they do not get their way.

Statement issued by COPE President, Mosiuoa Lekota, April 28 2010

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