Onkopotse (JJ) Tabane, writes in his public resignation from COPE, that the party has dishonest leaders who are power mongers, has failed to hold a democratic congress, has no vision, no campaigns, dis-organised administration, no policies and that its CNC meetings have degenerated into "brawls".
All this, he claims, has resulted in "civil society" filling in the vacuum COPE has left and furthermore, is evidence that claims of financial mismanagement, maladministration and even misappropriation, are just "smokescreens" or shots fired in a leadership contest.
As confused as this "analysis" is, there is some truth in it. COPE has battled to set up structures, define a vision and policies, ensure unity in the party, run campaigns and to hold an elective Congress. But the reasons for this are not, as Tabane puts it, because of some abstract leaders who are as dysfunctional as he describes, or because they deploy "an arsenal to besmirch one another".
The state of the party is directly attributable to selfish individuals such as Tabane, who say one thing and yet do another, all in their personal interest. While claiming to take some responsibility for the state of COPE, Tabane simply abandons all responsibility, passing the buck, as usual.
In truth, these problems in COPE are as a result of the factional fight waged by some members of the party. Tabane was a central figure in this narrow agenda to oust the current leadership of the party, in particular its President. In pursuit of this agenda, Tabane and his cronies were prepared to ride roughshod over every democratic principle, the party constitution and any sense of comradeship.
In this campaign, it has been Tabane's associates who have behaved badly, including disrupting CNC meetings, even stealing ballots and stopping democratic processes. Tabane was central to organising the failed St Georges coup, where he and his cronies attempted to fake a Congress to install their preferred candidate as president of the party.