Sibongakonke Shoba
8 July 2009
Johannesburg — TWO high-ranking Congress of the People (COPE) leaders resigned from the party yesterday, adding fuel to the speculation that the party is imploding.
COPE's second deputy president and member of Parliament Linda Odendaal and the party's election head, Simon Grindrod , quit SA's second-biggest opposition party, which was touted as a viable opposition to the African National Congress (ANC) when it was formed in December.
Odendaal was seen as a trophy recruit when she was given one of the top three positions at COPE's Bloemfontein conference, despite her relative obscurity.
Grindrod's resignation comes after he wrote an internal memorandum last month to party leaders, warning them to "face some hard truths" or witness the collapse of the party. He said the party faced "the extremely damaging situation of having parallel structures aligned to either the president (Mosiuoa Lekota) or the deputy president (Mbhazima Shilowa)".
The two resignations follow those of several other prominent members. A month before the general elections, former COPE elections head Mlungisi Hlongwane quit and rejoined the ANC, claiming a "Xhosa cabal" had hijacked the party. A week later, he told Business Day that more leaders would leave.
COPE general secretary Charlotte Lobe yesterday expressed the party's regret over Odendaal's decision. "She has made a considerable contribution to COPE from its inception. COPE trusts that Odendaal will continue to make a positive contribution to our country," said Lobe.
COPE spokesman Philip Dexter said Odendaal did not give reasons for her resignation. It was not known who would replace her in Parliament and whether her post in the party would be filled. Odendaal was not available for comment. Grindrod confirmed that he had resigned.
In his memorandum, Grindrod wrote that the public was confused about COPE's leadership, and this resulted in credibility issues.
"The leader of the party, the president, does not lead us in Parliament, whilst the first deputy president is the chief whip. Our presidential candidate officially leads the national parliamentary party. It is increasingly the case that ordinary members ask, 'Who leads us?'"
There was confusion before the April elections on who was leading the party after Mvume Dandala was chosen as presidential candidate over COPE president Lekota.
Lekota's supporters were unhappy with this decision, and some left the party and rejoined the ANC.
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