‘I will not go back to the ANC even if Cope loses’ – Lekota

Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota said he will not go back to the ANC if his party loses the general elections on Wednesday.

Lekota rejects the ANC again

All eyes will be on the leaderboard at the National Results Operations Centre in Midrand this week as political parties find out how they did in the polls.

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Some parties, such as the Cope, are expected to underperform after years of infighting and a gradual reduction of their presence in the national assembly.

According to political analysts, these elections could be Cope’s farewell to parliament but Lekota said he would not give up on his party. He said even if his party’s support reduced, he would not go back to the ANC.

“No, I do not think I will go back to the ANC,” Lekota said.

According to Lekota, many ANC veterans of his time feel that the ANC has lost direction.

“Many people are coming back to me to say; ‘we should have taken seriously what you were saying at that time. Even if we had not followed you, we could have kept in mind what you had suggested. We would have gone a long way, in terms of the direction that the ANC has now taken and the damage that has been caused,” Lekota said.

Lekota said he did not believe in the leadership of the ANC that took over after the Polokwane conference that saw Jacob Zuma emerging as ANC president. Some analysts described this moment as the beginning of the nine wasted years.

“The leadership that had a sense of where we are going was now being kicked out,” he said.

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He said another reason he left the ANC was because the ANC had deviated from the Freedom Charter.

Lekota also touched on the infighting in his party. He said he believed that Cope was infiltrated and destroyed from within.

“There is evidence of what attempts were made which has affected the Congress of the People very negatively,” he said.

WATCH: Lekota’s full chat with The Citizen