Cape Town — The Congress of the People (COPE) says it will not be entering talks of a coalition with the South African Rainbow Alliance (SARA) until after the general elections.
Former COPE leader, Colleen Makhubele, tried to sign the party up with the newly-formed SARA, but she ended up being fired from the party.
According to The Citizen, Makhubhele said in November that COPE was meant to part of the alliance, saying she was a member of the party before her termination and that President Lekota said he would join as a member of this alliance. She claimed she was booted from COPE because she had “dared believe” she could lead South Africa.
However, COPE reiterated they would not be entering a coalition with SARA, choosing to distance themselves from the party.
“We have distanced ourselves from the SARA issue. We are not part of SARA. We have not entered into any coalition discussions with anybody. We are looking at Cope as an individual party.”
“That does not rule out coalitions. We have weighed our strengths and we are convinced that we want to go into coalition discussions with the strength and capability to negotiate,” COPE’s chairperson, Teboho Loate, said
The party held a media briefing on Tuesday afternoon where the party updated it’s supporters and the public on its preparations for the upcoming elections. Party leaders confirmed they will be contesting nationally and in all provinces, EWN reported.
Loate said the party would maintain its independence going into the elections.
“At the most, our expectation is that we have the potential to increase our seats. At the most, if we have not done well, we should at least be around five to eight seats,” he said.
[WATCH] COPE executive committee member, Pakes Dikgetsi says they expect the party to increase parliament representation “to be between 5 to 8 seats” in the next election. #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/5FNYWv7di5
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) January 9, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
