Over 50 members of the Congress of the People (Cope) sang and danced outside the Cope offices on Chapel Street on Saturday as their leaders thanked them for campaigning in the build-up to last year’s general elections.
Over 50 members of the Congress of the People (Cope) sang and danced outside the Cope offices on Chapel Street on Saturday as their leaders thanked them for campaigning in the build-up to last year’s general elections.
Mbuleli Njibane, Cope regional secretary in the Cacadu District, said the event was aimed at thanking the party’s volunteers for their commitment to the party.
“We wanted to thank and encourage our volunteers and this gesture on our part had been outstanding for a while and the event was a success,” he said.
He added that the event which was attended by the party’s provincial leadership, was also aimed at reviving the party’s structures in Makana.
Cope Member of Parliament Mlindi Nhanha and provincial sector co-ordinator George Ngesi addressed the party’s members on the party’s relevance in today’s political scene.
“It was more of a political education and spreading the awareness of our programmmes which lead to our national conference,” said Njibane.
The party’s conference will be held in Johannesburg and is scheduled for five days starting on 27 May. Njibane said this will include a policy conference.
He added that next month the Cacadu district will hold its Cope regional conference which will be followed by the provincial conference ahead of the Johannesburg conference.
“We are busy reviving our branches because we went to the polls last year with only an interim leadership, we had no branches and that weakened us,” explained Njibane.
“Now we have six branches in Makana and today we’ll be launching another branch in the Joza Indoor Sports Centre.”
He added that the party’s branches are based on voting districts and not on wards like other political parties which means that the party aims to have a branch at each voting station.
He said that for branches to be launched the party should have at least 25 paid-up members. In preparation for next year’s local government elections, the party plans to hold a Local Government Summit in July shortly after the finals of the Fifa Soccer World Cup.
“Cope is about serving the people in our communities and we don’t have to wait until 2011 before we can act,” he said adding that the party has initiated charity drives which it calls “soft services”.
