NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF COPE SABOTAGED WITHOUT ELECTING LEADERSHIP

We as the democratically elected leadership of COPE Youth Movement are highly disturbed by notions that have been spread in the media that Mbhazima Shilowa is the president of COPE. We would like to condemn these malicious lies that seek to create confusion in the Congress of the People.

The National Elective Conference newas never opened on the basis that Shilowa's group sought to sabotage the  registration process by registering ghost delegates who were bussed to the venue of the conference, more especially from Eastern Cape to disrupt the Conference. This came after Shilowa realized that he doesn't command high support in the plenary when President Terror Lekota welcomed delegates who satisfied the registration prerequisites.

We would like to state categorically that beginning of the registration process ran very swiftly without interferences because registration was done by the independent company appointed to solely to register delegates. Unfortunately Mbhazima's faction became angry when they realized that they could not upload information of ghost delegates into the database in order to enlarge his support in the conference - a tactic he had been banking on.

The Congress National Committee sat down and came with an amicable solution of manually registering delegates. In the plenary the Conference proposed the motion of adjourning the Conference and this motion was seconded and supported by two third majority of the Conference without having elected leadership.

It is outrageous and completely contrary to the constitution of COPE and due process that Shilowa imposed himself as a president of COPE. The Congress National Committee of COPE led by President Mosiuoa Lekota was never dissolved. The independent company that was supposed to have conducted elections in this Conference was EISA. We expected that if indeed they were elections, Mbhazima could not have pronounced himself as a president but EISA should have done that. This begs the question - who conducted and oversaw these purported elections?

As Congress of the People Youth Movement (COPEYM) at national level we are abhorred at Shilowa's conduct, moreso by the fact that he was intoxicated as witnessed by members of the CNC, journalists and ordinary COPE members. His pretext of greeting delegates with the chief aim of influencing the process of registration, as well as campaigning with boxes of KFC outside the venue is cynical and shows a level of desperation unheard of in South African politics.

Such desperation to become President of COPE does not stop the processes of inquiry into the mismanagement of finances by him and his cronies, most notably the serious charge of tender fraud being investigated by the Hawks against the former COPE YM Secretary Malusi Booi. No members of COPE can escape the rule of law.

In the light of the above Congress of the People Youth Movement is calling for the Disciplinary Committee to expedite the Disciplinary  hearing of Mbhazima Shilowa so that when we proceed with the Conference in the due course. We cannot have leadership who are compromised by the suspicion of corruption. If Shilowa and others are innocent, then they must submit themselves to this inquiry in order to clear his name. Failing which, COPE YM asks the question, what does the deputy President have to hide?

With one voice, COPE YM calls for an unreserved apology from the Deputy President to ordinary members of COPE and all South Africans for the unruly behaviour of himself and those delegates who behaved like a destructive mob. We doubt that one is forthcoming. Already Shilowa has proved himself to be a pathalogical liar, having lied to Parliament, his fellow whips and ordinary COPE members about the state of COPE's finances. Apart from the internal charges he is facing, COPE YM looks forward to seeing how this anti democrat behaves when under the scriutiny of the Hawks.

For the record, the National Leadership of COPE YM is as follows:

* Nqaba Bhanga (Eastern Cape) - President
* Lesego Sentsho (Gauteng) - First Deputy President
* Kele Phiri (North West) - Second Deputy President
* Ngoako Abel Rangata (Limpopo) - General Secretary
* Ntuthuko Dumakude (KZN) - Deputy General Secretary
* Ompie Swarts (Free State) - National Treasurer
* Roscoe Palm (Western Cape) - Head of Communications

Statement issued by Nqaba Bhanga, COPE YM President and Abel Rangata, Secretary General of COPEYM, December 19 2010

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NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF COPE SABOTAGED WITHOUT ELECTING LEADERSHIP

We as the democratically elected leadership of COPE Youth Movement are highly disturbed by notions that have been spread in the media that Mbhazima Shilowa is the president of COPE. We would like to condemn these malicious lies that seek to create confusion in the Congress of the People. The National Elective Conference newas never opened on the basis that Shilowa's group sought to sabotage the  registration process by registering ghost delegates who were bussed to the venue of the conference, more especially from Eastern Cape to disrupt the Conference. This came after Shilowa realized that he doesn't command high support in the plenary when President Terror Lekota welcomed delegates who satisfied the registration prerequisites.

We would like to state categorically that beginning of the registration process ran very swiftly without interferences because registration was done by the independent company appointed to solely to register delegates. Unfortunately Mbhazima's faction became angry when they realized that they could not upload information of ghost delegates into the database in order to enlarge his support in the conference - a tactic he had been banking on.

The Congress National Committee sat down and came with an amicable solution of manually registering delegates. In the plenary the Conference proposed the motion of adjourning the Conference and this motion was seconded and supported by two third majority of the Conference without having elected leadership.

It is outrageous and completely contrary to the constitution of COPE and due process that Shilowa imposed himself as a president of COPE. The Congress National Committee of COPE led by President Mosiuoa Lekota was never dissolved. The independent company that was supposed to have conducted elections in this Conference was EISA. We expected that if indeed they were elections, Mbhazima could not have pronounced himself as a president but EISA should have done that. This begs the question - who conducted and oversaw these purported elections?

As Congress of the People Youth Movement (COPEYM) at national level we are abhorred at Shilowa's conduct, moreso by the fact that he was intoxicated as witnessed by members of the CNC, journalists and ordinary COPE members. His pretext of greeting delegates with the chief aim of influencing the process of registration, as well as campaigning with boxes of KFC outside the venue is cynical and shows a level of desperation unheard of in South African politics.

Such desperation to become President of COPE does not stop the processes of inquiry into the mismanagement of finances by him and his cronies, most notably the serious charge of tender fraud being investigated by the Hawks against the former COPE YM Secretary Malusi Booi. No members of COPE can escape the rule of law.

In the light of the above Congress of the People Youth Movement is calling for the Disciplinary Committee to expedite the Disciplinary  hearing of Mbhazima Shilowa so that when we proceed with the Conference in the due course. We cannot have leadership who are compromised by the suspicion of corruption. If Shilowa and others are innocent, then they must submit themselves to this inquiry in order to clear his name. Failing which, COPE YM asks the question, what does the deputy President have to hide?

With one voice, COPE YM calls for an unreserved apology from the Deputy President to ordinary members of COPE and all South Africans for the unruly behaviour of himself and those delegates who behaved like a destructive mob. We doubt that one is forthcoming. Already Shilowa has proved himself to be a pathalogical liar, having lied to Parliament, his fellow whips and ordinary COPE members about the state of COPE's finances. Apart from the internal charges he is facing, COPE YM looks forward to seeing how this anti democrat behaves when under the scriutiny of the Hawks.

For the record, the National Leadership of COPE YM is as follows:

* Nqaba Bhanga (Eastern Cape) - President
* Lesego Sentsho (Gauteng) - First Deputy President
* Kele Phiri (North West) - Second Deputy President
* Ngoako Abel Rangata (Limpopo) - General Secretary
* Ntuthuko Dumakude (KZN) - Deputy General Secretary
* Ompie Swarts (Free State) - National Treasurer
* Roscoe Palm (Western Cape) - Head of Communications

Statement issued by Nqaba Bhanga, COPE YM President and Abel Rangata, Secretary General of COPEYM, December 19 2010

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