Congress of the People (South African political party)

Congress of the People
PresidentMosiuoa Lekota
ChairpersonTeboho Loate
Secretary-GeneralDiratsagae Alfred Kganare
Spokespersonvacant
Deputy Presidentvacant
Deputy Secretary Generalvacant
Founders
Founded16 December 2008; 15 years ago (2008-12-16)
Split fromAfrican National Congress
Headquarters34–36 Fricker Road, Illovo, Gauteng
Student wingCOPE Students Movement
Youth wingCOPE Youth Movement
Women's wingCOPE Women's Movement
Business and Professionals' wingCOPE Business and Professionals
IdeologySocial democracy
Social liberalism
Progressivism
Political positionCentre-left
National affiliationCollective for Democracy
Colours  Yellow   Red
SloganReliable, Accountable, Incorruptible
National Assembly seats
0 / 400
NCOP seats
0 / 90
Provincial Legislatures
0 / 430
Party flag
Website
www.copesa.org.za

The Congress of the People (COPE) is a South African political party formed in 2008 by former members of the African National Congress (ANC).[1] The party was founded by former ANC members Mosiuoa Lekota, Mbhazima Shilowa and Mluleki George to contest the 2009 general election. The party was announced following a national convention held in Sandton on 1 November 2008, and was founded at a congress held in Bloemfontein on 16 December 2008. The name echoes the 1955 Congress of the People at which the Freedom Charter was adopted by the ANC and other parties, a name strongly contested by the ANC in a legal move dismissed by the Pretoria High Court.[2]

In the 2009 general election, the party received 1,311,027 votes and a 7.42% share of the vote. Following the 2009 elections, COPE experienced a leadership dispute between factions supporting Mosiuoa Lekota and others supporting Mbhazima Shilowa,[3] that led to a 2013 court battle,[4] and continued into 2014.[5] After the 2014 election, COPE was left with only three seats in the National Assembly, down from 30 seats in 2009.[6]

Despite its reduced stature, the party has joined with the much larger Democratic Alliance (DA) and several other smaller parties to co-govern Nelson Mandela Bay, Johannesburg and Tshwane after the 2016 municipal elections.

COPE had its worst performance at the 2024 national and provincial elections by garnering a mere 0.09 percent of the votes. The party failed to secure a single seat in parliament as result of this poor performance.[7]

  1. ^ "New party to challenge ANC rule". BBC News. 16 December 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Cope wins name battle". The Times. UK. Archived from the original on 21 December 2008.
  3. ^ "'Infighting necessary' - Cope". www.sowetanlive.co.za. 13 May 2011. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  4. ^ Shanti Aboobaker (27 October 2013). "Shilowa row goes back to court". IOL News. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  5. ^ Khulekani Magubane (7 January 2014). "COPE factions headed for court battle". www.bdlive.co.za. Archived from the original on 14 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  6. ^ "Only COPE has lost more seats than ANC". BDlive. 9 May 2014. Archived from the original on 11 May 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Election Results and Allocation of Seats in Parliament (National Assembly) and Provincial Legislatures: 2024". pmg.org.za. Retrieved 2 August 2024.