Manyane Manyane
manyane.manyane@inl.co.za
THE factional battles within the Congress of the People (Cope) have now ended at the doorstep of the South Gauteng High Court.
This was after Tshwane COPE councillor Justice Thabang Sefanyatso took legal action against leader Mosiuoa Lekota and the speaker of Johannesburg council Colleen Makhubele, over the termination of his membership and his “unfair” removal from his position.
Sefanyatso made headlines when he was sworn into council after the resignation of fraud-accused former mayor Murunwa Makwerala in March.
He was later replaced by Ofentse Moalusi, also a Cope member, who lost the mayoral election to the DA’s Cilliers Brink.
In the court papers filed by Sefanyatso at the South Gauteng High Court, the party is cited as the first respondent. Lekota and Makhubele are cited as the second and third respondents.
He said Lekota and Makhubele misled the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) and the City of Tshwane council by replacing him unlawfully and illegally with an “undeserving candidate” without following the party’s list provided by the Local Government Municipal Structures Act.
Lekota did not respond to the questions sent by the Sunday Independent on Wednesday. Makhubele referred questions to the party’s Gauteng chairperson Tom Mofokeng, who did not respond.
Sefanyatsio said the two used his previous criminal charge to challenge his public standing as a councillor. He said this was despite the issue being clarified with the party’s structures.
“To take the court into my confidence, I disclose that the matter of the criminal conviction pertained to a road traffic offence which occurred in around 1999 when I was excited and making preparations for my wedding, which occurred in the year 2000. The sentence carried an option of a fine, which I paid,” Sefanyatso said.
Sefanyatso, who was a police officer at that time, said the criminal conviction did not deter him to advance his career. He said he later joined Standard Bank and Nedbank as a forensic investigator.
He resigned in 2021 to take the position of councillor in the City of Tshwane.
Sefanyatso said his elimination from taking up his rightful position as a PR councillor was unfair because Lekota and his deputy, Willy Madisha, also confirmed his “good credentials” after the party had done its assessment, background check and validation process on him. He said the two also confirmed this on the eNCA news channel on March 18.
Sefanyatso said he learnt of the termination of his membership on March 21. He said he was also barred from attending the council meeting on March 22.
He added that he was also expelled from the party without answering to charges, or at least, being accused of any contravention of the Constitution of Cope.
“I discerned from the email correspondences that this was a decision that was taken somewhat in the earlier hours of the day and that communication with the City manager and with the IEC was done by the third respondent, Ms Colleen Makhubele, the Cope councillor in the Johannesburg Metropolitan City Council,” he said.
Makhubele, in the letter, instructed the withdrawal of Sefanyatso and immediately replaced with Moalusi. The letter was approved by Lekota. He said the termination was unlawful as Lekota and Makhubele were not authorised anywhere in the party’s Constitution to act in the manner they did.
“Several of my constitutional guaranteed rights were infringed, which rights include but are not limited to my right to freedom of association and my fair trial rights,” Sefanyatso said.
He said Lekota and Makhubele had failed to disclose the legal grounds compelling them to bridge the party’s Constitution and terminate his membership without following due process.
“The occasion of unlawful termination of my party membership is embarrassing, humiliating, degrading, and the extent of damage it will cause to my good reputation if not challenged, cannot be undermined,” he said.
He said he wanted his membership reinstated and to be placed at the top of the PR councillor list and reselected as a Tshwane councillor.
Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloem said: “Cope is aware of this court application, and we support our candidate Justice Thabang Sefanyatso.”