Willy Madisha, from Kobe, says he is still a party member and an MP. (Photo by Gallo Images/Dayburger/Jaco Marais)
- Willy Madisha says he is still a member of the Cobb.
- He adds that he is the party’s representative in parliament.
- It was alleged that Madisha was expelled from the party in June.
The battle for power in the People’s Assembly (Kop) is likely to be decided by the court.
Cope MP Willie Madisha has filed a lawsuit against his party colleague, Mosiuoa Lekota.
A month after his alleged expulsion from Kop, Madisha insisted on Monday that he was still a member of the party as well as its vice-president.
A letter emerged in July, penned by KOP Secretary-General Eric Muhlabamaswe, which said the party’s national committee had excluded Madisha.
The letter stated that Madisha would lose his seat in parliament.
Factional battles in Cobb mean the party decision making structures Not all of this is clear.
Read | Cope fires Willy Madesha: The party says it will also lose a seat in parliament
Lekota insists he is in charge of the party, while Madisha says he is not.
Party members, who have chosen sides, hold separate meetings.
Madisha, speaking at a news conference in Kempton Park on Monday, said he had not been expelled from the party.
He said he was finalizing a court request to clean up his image and show that Lekota had hijacked party structures.
Madisha’s court application will depend on the fact that only the electoral Congress can remove him as party leader.
Madisha said:
I am the deputy chairman of the party duly elected by the people elected at the National Congress by the people. A hired choir will not remove us without a political mandate.
“Send a warning to the charter choir that your time is up, we know of your corrupt activities, and the long arm of the law is closing. Repent and tell the truth, or we will do it for you,” he said.
Madisha said he had informed Parliament that he was still an MP, despite attempts by other KOP members to remove him from the party and as an MP.
Lekota and Madisha were not on speaking terms, despite both serving as members of parliament.
Madisha said the two pass each other in the halls of the national legislature.
Another accusation was that Lekota had appropriated the party’s finances. He was solely responsible for the party’s bank account and financial records.
Read | Cope, AIC, and NFP failed to disclose financial statements to the IEC
The party has since failed to provide the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) with financial statements for the 2021/22 financial year.
The Independent Electoral Commission had to withhold the party’s share of funding for representative political parties and the Multi-Party Democracy Fund earmarked for parties represented in various legislatures, News24 previously reported.
In a statement released prior to Madesha’s briefing, the Gauteng leader in Kop, Tom Mofokeng, who is allied with Lekota, said that Madesha remained expelled and had no right to speak for the party.
Mofokeng said “These people are taking it upon themselves and doing everything in their incompetence to tarnish Kobe’s image. The Kobe president has initiated the process of withdrawing Madisha from representing Kobe in Parliament.”
A national conference was scheduled for July, but it was not clear if that would be possible.