The Congress of the People’s (Cope) national committee has terminated deputy president Willie Madisha’s membership.
Madisha can appeal the decision with the Acting General Secretary within 14 days.
Cope has been marred by leadership squabbles for months. Last year, a physical altercation ensued at the party’s press conference in Boksburg.
This led to Madisha and party President Mosiuoa Lekota suspending one another.
Cope’s secretary-general, Erick Mohlapamaswi, said the decision to terminate the memberships of Madisha and Mzwandile Nhleko, secretary for elections, was taken at the party’s national committee meeting on Sunday.
He added that the decision was unanimous and constitutional.
Mohlapamaswi said Madisha would lose his parliamentary seat and added: ‘The decision follows a protracted process of attempts to get the two individuals to remain within the Code of Conduct and the party’s constitutional prescripts.
‘These processes included formal correspondences, attempts at mediation and legal action to rein in their recalcitrant behaviour that [has] brought the party into disrepute.’
The misconduct included convening unconstitutional meetings and conferences, abusing party resources, and acting in positions which were not approved by the national committee.
A factional battle centred around Cope president Mosiuoa Lekota and Madisha peaked in August 2022, when they announced the suspension of each other from the party.
Madisha said of Lekota: ‘Given his health conditions, he is not able to perform what the party and all South Africans expect him to do, which is to attend to the work of Parliament’.
Lekota dismissed Madisha’s statement, saying his deputy had no authority to suspend him.
He maintained he was still fit enough to work.
Cope’s national chairperson, Teboho Loate, described Madisha as ‘ambitious, desperate, irrational’ and the two would ‘bear the consequences’ of their actions.
On Sunday, Mohlapamaswi said the party would immediately proceed to fill the two parliamentary vacancies.
[Photo: Freddy Mavunda for Sowetan Live]