‘I have ambitions too’: Joburg speaker, Colleen Makhubele eyeing Cope’s top position

City of Johannesburg speaker Colleen Makhubele is looking to climb up the political ladder and lead her party, the Congress of the People (Cope).

While Cope was yet to finalise dates for its national and provincial congress, Makhubele has signalled her intentions to succeed the party’s president, Mosiuoa Lekota, amid talks of the veteran potentially stepping down.

This week, the Joburg speaker hinted at Lekota being “ready to hand over the reins” as he was in his final term to lead Cope.

‘I have ambitions too’

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Makhubele spoke of the “sharp rise” in her political career since she became a Cope member in 2021 ahead of the local government elections.

She initially served as a board member of the City of Joburg’s Metropolitan Trading Company and in the chair of chairs position before she was elected as council speaker in September last year.

The spotlight has since followed Makhubele, partly due to the infighting and divisions within Cope.

“Remember, [Willie] Madisha always saw himself as the next Cope president. And between him and [Dennis] Bloem, that was the next fight.

“But I have ambitions too — at the right time: if it is not this upcoming elective congress, then at the next one. It will happen,” she told the publication.

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Madisha and secretary for elections Mzwandile Hleko’s Cope memberships were recently terminated including their attempts to oust Lekota from the party.

Bloem’s fate at this stage, however, was yet to be decided.

Makhubele’s proximity to Lekota has since been described as an “unfair tactic” to gain an advantage in replacing the Cope president and succeeding him in Parliament.

But the Joburg speaker appears unbothered by Hleko’s claims.

“The Cope I joined and that we are trying to build I believe is no longer represented by its expelled senior members [Madisha and Hleko].

“The decision to terminate their membership was the right one and the subsequent degeneration in the party is unfortunate and unbecoming. They wanted to illegally take over the party from the president, citing his ill health as an excuse,” she said.

Furthermore, Makhubele acknowledged she has not formally been elected into any structure by Cope despite being considered the face of the party in Gauteng.

“I was not in the regional structure when they made me a Joburg mayoral candidate in 2021. They had wanted to co-opt me into the regional structure, but I wanted to focus on being a councillor. Being a councillor and subsequently, speaker automatically means you become a leader.

“Official position or not, because of my standing within the governance structure, I began to lead the region. Province and national began to have confidence in me to represent the party,” the Joburg speaker added.

Fake letter

Cope has a record of constantly suspending its members, including Makhubele herself.

A few weeks before she became speaker, Makhubele was suspended from all council duties and activities, pending the outcome of the disciplinary hearing.

She, however, insisted that she was not going anywhere because she had the support of Cope’s national leadership.

In March this year, a letter then made rounds claiming the Joburg speaker was fired by Cope, but she later denounced the document as “fake“.

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