Political issues, should, as a rule, be dealt with in political structures. But when those structures cease to function as they should, the courts may be the only remedy. History will judge whether the President of COPE and those who supported him were correct to go to court to stop the actions of the Shilowa faction in the party. Leaders must act when they see wrongdoing and especially injustice.
When political disputes arise in a party, over issues, leadership or any other matter, these are traditionally debated and then decided upon by a majority vote or by consensus. . But for that to happen, structures that deal with these issues must be democratic, transparent, act fairly, foster unity and be accountable.
Sadly, in COPE, except for the CNC and branches, no structures have been elected. They are all run by appointees, often self-appointed leaders at that. Some Congresses have taken place, such as in the Gauteng regions and province, the Cape Town Metro region and the Western Cape Province. The outcomes of these conferences however have been widely disputed; not all branches were represented, the voting and other democratic processes were dubious and there was great uncertainty about who paid for the costs. In addition, violence has been used on more than one occasion to force a particular outcome of Congress.
The Congress National and Working Committees consist of members elected by consensus at the Bloemfontein Inaugural Congress and those who serve as ex-officio from the provinces , youth and women's chapters. The ex-officio members are mostly interim leaders appointed to build those structures and take them to democratic electoral congresses. Apart from the disputed nature of the provincial congresses that have taken place, it is not even clear that these ex-officio structures should be allowed to vote on the CNC and CWC. A case may be made for them to gain voting power once they have held elective congresses, but they certainly should not have the vote if they are interim structures. Given the role of these structures in forcing to move the elective congress forward, it became clear that the CNC was being forced into taking decisions that were not for the good of the party but for partisan, factional and individual interest.
The link between these interests and funding patterns of patronage in the party became all the more clearer as time passed by. For instance, those provinces that are run by Shilowa supporters have had resources poured into them. Those who don't get nothing. Attempts to ensure accountability for how parliamentary funds were being utilised fell on deaf ears and this matter was systematically avoided by those responsible for those funds.
In some cases, the Eastern Cape being the most blatant, funds were distributed to all regions, except those who did not profess loyalty to the Shilowa faction, as in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro region. This region was also targeted, albeit unsuccessfully, to stop certain individuals from being elected. Two Congresses in Nelson Mandela Bay region were stopped by the Shilowa biased provincial leadership. In the run-up to the proposed elective congress it was crystal clear that funds had been channelled into 3 regions; Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape, to ensure that these had the majority of branches at the national congress. The audit process, which systematically excluded other provinces and regions where Shilowa was not supported, reinforced this.
Although these issues were raised, it was not until the eve of the congress that the majority of CNC members were convinced that the rights of the members of the party were going to be undermined by these tendencies. Then it became clear that the Shilowa faction was not prepared to hold off the congress until all members had been given a fair chance to co-operate, possibly because of the fear of the financial mismanagement of parliamentary funds being exposed if the congress as held after the end of the financial year. This is when, the real democrats, those who aim to represent all people in all structures of COPE had to act.
The courts were an obvious place to turn, since they are there to protect every citizen's rights, including members of political parties. It has emerged that some of COPE's leaders feel that going to court is an act of treason. This is odd, given the party's clear statement on upholding the Constitution and the rule of law. Clearly such leaders only want this principle to apply to Jacob Zuma but believe, unlike him, they are above the law. When the CNC resolution was adopted after some negotiations with the minority Shilowa faction, the court processes were put on hold. Thankfully, they were not abandoned, as it became clear that the Shilowa faction never intended to honour the CNC resolution. Instead, they used the number of delegates they controlled on the floor of the policy conference, to seek to achieve their objectives by another means. The fear of and resistance to the courts only served to highlight that fact that there was something that these objectors did not want revealed. An honest person could never fear the courts.
In that context, where the rights of the majority of COPE members were being undermined by being excluded from choosing the party's leaders, there was no other choice for any responsible leader but to go to the courts. What followed confirmed the worst fears of democrats, honest members and responsible people in the party. Having lost in court, the Shilowa faction acted not only in contempt of the court interdict, as they staged a putsch reminiscent of that which ousted Thabo Mbeki as President of the ANC and later the country. How ironic that the most vocal supporters of President Mbeki and the walking wounded of Polokwane should now think nothing of doing the same thing in our new party, the Congress of the People! It demonstrates that theirs was never an objection of principle against the putsch, but one of personal interests. Like their selective use of the application of the rule of law, democracy, fairness and transparency are only things to be demanded of others but not lived by to Shilowa's pirates!
These have been terrible times for the party and its supporters, but it is better that these facts are out in the open. As one COPE leader is fond of saying, ‘circumstances do not make a man or woman, they simply reveal their character'. A thief is a thief, but poverty will not make an honest person steal. Let history judge us, those who went to our much respected courts to stop the theft of a party from its members and to bring those who tried to steal it, to book.
Phillip Dexter is COPE's Head of Communications
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