Cope targets KZN municipality
2011-02-09 17:25
Durban - Jozini municipality in KwaZulu-Natal has been targeted as one of the municipalities that could be governed by the Congress of the People (Cope), the party said on Wednesday.
"In KwaZulu-Natal we can confidently unveil that the municipality of Jozini is one of the target municipalities for Cope to govern in," Cope's KwaZulu-Natal secretary Phillip Mhlongo said in Durban.
"In the eThekwini Metropolitan municipality we are targeting to win no less than 10 wards," he said.
The party wanted to reassure South Africans that it was ready to deliver.
"A more detailed update on the preparedness of the province for the local government elections will be issued to the media closer to the time of launching the KwaZulu-Natal election campaign," said Mhlongo.
Cope has been beset by internal squabbles for months, with its co-founder Mosiuoa Lekota and Mbhazima Shilowa both claiming the presidency and leading separate factions within the party.
Lekota announced on Tuesday that Shilowa had been expelled for mismanaging Paliamentary funds - a charge Shilowa has consistently denied.
Mhlongo said he was aware that another Cope faction in the province was expected to have a provincial conference over the weekend.
"The provincial conference purported to be happening during the upcoming weekend is nothing but an action instigated by people who have no respect for Cope."
He said Cope in KwaZulu-Natal noted with disgust Shilowa's expulsion and called on the public to ignore it as "it has no standing".
- SAPA
