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SA Election 2009 Special Report
NEWS
ANC holding key NEC meeting
The ANC is holding its quarterly NEC meeting, to discuss the outcome of the elections and how to implement its election manifesto.
FEATURES
Cabinet to tackle Zuma pledges
Analysts say the new Cabinet matches President Jacob Zuma's pledges to smash poverty and boost development, but enormous challenges remain.
MULTIMEDIA
INTERACTIVE
Former Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and former Premier of Gauteng, Mbhazima Shilowa, convened a "National Conference" in Sandton, Johannesburg on October 31 2008. The conference dominated national news for days, and at the end of the lively proceedings it was unanimously decided that a new political party should be formed. The launch was scheduled for December 16 2008 in Bloemfontein. After much controversy, the name for the new party was adopted on 15 November and a new logo and slogan entered the realm of public discourse.
Source: (www.congressofthepeople.org.za)
Website: www.copeelections.co.za and www.copewebsite.co.za
Facebook: Congress of the People
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ELECTION 2009 INFO
Policies | Manifesto | Press Releases | News24 blog
Parliamentary List
1. Mvume Dandala |
Premier Candidates
Eastern Cape: Wiseman Nkuhlu |
PARTY LEADERS
Mosiuoa Lekota
Mosiuoa Lekota first earned his nickname "Terror" on the soccer field at St Francis College in Marianhill, KwaZulu-Natal, where he got his matric in 1966. The Free State-born student proved just what a 'terror' he was when he was expelled from his Law Studies at the University of the North in 1970 because of his SRC and SASO activities. This was the beginning of a distinguished political career, as his dogged adherence to his ideals secured him an eight-year jail sentence on Robben Island.
On his release he picked up the struggle again by becoming the Publicity Secretary of the United Democratic Front, only to be detained and sentenced again in what became known as the Delmas Treason Trial. In 1989 the Appeal Court reviewed his sentence and he was released.
After 1990 he became the ANC convenor in Southern Natal, an ANC organizer in the Free State, a member of the ANC Executive Committee and its National Working Committee and ANC Chief of Intelligence. In 1992 he became the Secretary of the ANC Election Committee and - as a result of his organizational abilities - he was appointed Premier of the Free State after democratic elections in 1994. In 1996 he was appointed as Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, before serving as Defence Minister from 1999 to 2008.
In 2008 Mosiuoa Lekota stunned South Africa when he announced that he was "serving divorce papers" on the ANC to become one of the founder members of the Congress of the People.
Mbhazima Shilowa
Almost all of Shilowa's life has taken place on either the shop floor or in the engine room of politics, and it is this skill as a manager and organizer that saw him take over the reins as a successful Gauteng Premier in June 1999. He resigned his premiership in 2008 to become one of the founding members of COPE.
After finishing school in his home province of Limpopo in 1979, Shilowa went to find out if the streets of Johannesburg were indeed paved with gold. What he found instead was his own ability to lead and organize - a trait that saw him rise from membership of the Transport and General Worker's Union to general secretary of COSATU within a little over ten years. It was in this capacity that he was called upon to represent organised labour in the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) after 1997.
He had also played a key role in the Mass Democratic Movement prior to the unbanning of the ANC, was a Member of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP), and a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC. However, he became famous as a benign presence at the Multi-party negotiations in 2003 at the World Trade Centre in Midrand - a process that led to the formation of the post-1994 South African state (CODESA) He was known throughout the country for his calm presence, his signature worker's cap and his broad smile. In 1999 he was appointed Premier of Gauteng, South Africa's - if not Africa's - most prosperous region.
Mvume Dandala
It is not often that your hometown is named after your family, but in the case of Cope's presidential candidate Dr Mvume Dandala, his birthplace of Dandala near Mt Ayliff in the Eastern Cape was named after his great-grandfather, the chief. The son of a Methodist Minister, it was clear from early on that young Mvume was headed for great things.
After obtaining a Diploma in Theology from a Methodist Seminary he worked in Mdantsane township in East London - the heartland of the struggle. He was a pivotal member of the United Democratic Front (UDF), and for a while enjoyed the dubious attentions of the security police, even ending up in jail.
A scholarship allowed him to complete a BA and MA in Theology at Cambridge University in England, but as soon as he returned to South Africa he was sent to Empangeni to work with young people from the University of Zululand and develop ministries amongst the poor rural communities of Northern KZN.
Five years later, at the age of 31, he was appointed Superintendent of the Port Elizabeth North Circuit, the largest in the country.
Once elected to the Methodist Synod in Johannesburg, Dandala became synonymous with peace-brokering during the hostel violence of the late 80s and early 90s. He was also instrumental in the disarmament of the ANC's Self-Defence Units and Inkatha's Self-Protection Units on the East Rand. In 1996 he was appointed the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, and in 1998 appointed President of the SA Council of Churches.
Dr Dandala is a man of peace and a man of the people. He is internationally recognised as a practical man of wisdom whose mediation and insight is in great demand, both in South Africa and the rest of the world.
Information supplied by Cope and INet Bridge
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