COPE denies existence of a motion of no confidence against its leader  

15 May 2019

The Congress of the People(COPE) is aware of the rumour being spread by Radio 702 that there are COPE leaders who has passed a motion of no confidence against its leader, Mr Mosiuoa Lekota. “It’s unfortunate that 702 has decided to spread this rumour despite having been clarified by myself that there is no basis for these allegations”, said Papi Kganare; the General Secretary of COPE.

According to the COPE Constitution, any member can propose a motion of confidence against any leader by submitting such a motion to the General Secretary. The General Secretary will then present such a proposed motion to the Congress National Committee which will then appoint an investigative team to investigate the veracity of such allegation and report back to the Congress National Committee.

“As we release this statement, there is no motion of no confidence which has been submitted to me and is surprised at the eagerness Radio 702 decided to run with this story as a fact,” reiterated Papi Kganare. The issues of Afri-Forum was dealt with early last year and COPE’s position is that we are opposed to amendment of Section 25 of the South African Constitution and will work together with any organization or political party sharing the same view on this subject including Afri-Forum; DA and farmers organization. There is no special relationship between Afriforum and COPE.

Whilst we support and will always defend the freedom of the press; we are really disappointed at how Radio 702 dealt with this unsubstantiated rumour.

Issued by Papi Kganare, General Secretary. COPE, 14 May 2019