SOUTH AFRICA’S Congress of the People (Cope) party recorded its highest profile defection to date from the ruling ANC party with the confirmation that the country’s former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka had joined its ranks.
Cope spokesman Philip Dexter said Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka had joined the party, saying her official announcement would be made “in due course”.
Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka stood down as deputy president last September after her boss, former South African president Thabo Mbeki, was recalled from the presidency by the ANC.
The sacking of Mr Mbeki led directly to the formation of Cope by a disgruntled faction within the ANC, but in the months that followed the party has garnered support from across the political spectrum.
Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka’s defection is seen as a significant coup for Cope ahead of yesterday’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) deadline for the registration of candidates to contest the April 22nd general election.
However, it is understood the former ANC stalwart has not taken a high-profile position in Cope ahead of the poll, which is expected to be the most closely contested since the transition to democracy in 1994. The IEC will make public its official candidate list in two weeks.
Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka was also joined in Cope at the weekend by another high-profile ANC defector, business tycoon Saki Macozoma. The ANC had accused Mr Macozoma of funding the formation of Cope, which led to calls for his expulsion from the ruling party.
Mr Macozoma said one of the reasons he had decided to abandon the ANC was that he was convinced its leadership had left behind the former liberation movement’s founding principals.
“It is important . . . to have a feeling of a grassroots response to a serious political problem: the deviation of the ANC from the ideals of the movement,” he said.
Another high-profile politician to join Cope in recent weeks has been convicted fraudster Allan Boesak. The cleric, who served a short prison term in 2000 for stealing donor funds before receiving a presidential pardon, was recently unveiled by Cope as its candidate for premier of the Western Cape province. Western Cape is expected to be one of the most tightly contested provinces, as it is the stronghold of the main opposition, the Democratic Alliance. It has announced leader Helen Zille as its candidate for the province’s top job.