Bongani Mageba, News24 User
It would seem to me that as COPE is moving from the infant stage to being a new kid on the block, it is already showing some of the signs of more mature parties.
In particular COPE is starting to show that they are no different from any of the 148 registered political parties and more specifically the ruling party and four or so of the main opposition parties. This lack of distinction from the current political players is instructive.
We have been told from extreme heights that COPE will bring about change in our body politic. Even in these early stages I would like to argue that we will see or experience none of that change. The main reason being that there is no compelling reason for COPE to exist. However, at the same time one must point out that they have every right to promote their views.
Beyond the t-shirts, villifying of freedom songs, hypocritical claim to the Freedom Charter, a lack of understanding of the rule of law and a hatred for Jacob Zuma and Julius Malema, there is very little that this new infant on the block will offer South Africans. They have struggled to come up with a party name. Instead they have sought to use or abuse their knowledge of the struggles led by the ANC.
They have begun to insult their opponents in the most extreme manner that even Julius Malema has hitherto not been accused of. For example calling Jacob Zuma a rapist. There is no evidence of such and currently he has no case against him.
They have shown early tendencies of not understanding what the rule of law means by continuously talking in flagrant disregard of the Pretorius J verdict on the alleged rape case against Jacob Zuma. Furthermore, they continue to accuse Blade Nzimande of corruption when the investigation showed there was no such evidence against Mr Nzimande.
Finally, and most interestingly they have begun to form camps as quoted in the Sunday Independent. On the latter point this is by far the most obvious sign to all those who may hold different views that they will not add any substantial value to our body politic. It is reported that Shilowa and Lekota do not see eye to eye on the leadership issue. It is also reported that Mluleki George is seeking a senior position because he has the most identifiable constituency.
The reason all of this is happening so quickly is simply because they are diehard separatists. Secondly, it is because there are no honest policy differences between COPE and the ANC. So when all is said and done this COPE thing is about prolonging of political careers of leaders who by most standards are still young. Because of their youth they cannot contemplate a situation where they have no access to power and allocation of resources!
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Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.