Lekota forced to eat humble pie

Embattled Cope president Mosiuoa Lekota was forced to apologise yesterday in a bid to avoid the humiliation of being hauled before the party's disciplinary committee.

In yet another indication that his days as the party's supremo are numbered, Lekota's closest confidante and Cope spokesman, Phillip Dexter, was stripped of his powers, and will now be only permitted to comment on issues relating to parliament.

Lekota, who stunned party supporters last week by publicly accusing his deputy, Mbhazima Shilowa, of mismanaging a R20-million party account, yesterday apologised for his remarks.

The two politicians, who founded Cope after breaking away from the ANC in 2008, are involved in a bitter power struggle ahead of the party's inaugural elective conference scheduled for the end of this month. Both men are vying for the post of president.

Lekota's press conference last Wednesday, at which he made the extraordinary accusations against Shilowa, was widely seen as part of a campaign to discredit his rival.

Cope general-secretary Charlotte Lobe told a press conference yesterday that Lekota "is sorry for making" the allegations when the party's Congress National Committee had ruled that the matter should be handled internally.

But those who attended a heated two-day meeting over the weekend said Lekota was initially unrepentant, and only agreed to apologise yesterday morning after being told that he would be dragged before a disciplinary committee.

A CNC member, who asked not to be named, said: "He tried to bully the CNC , but he had miscalculated his support.

"He was told he must publicly apologise or face a disciplinary hearing for having brought the organisation into disrepute."

Another insider said Shilowa, who was present at the meeting, and his supporters had initially demanded that Lekota call another press conference at which he would publicly apologise.

"At first the CNC wanted Lekota to issue a public apology, but the meeting later agreed that such a move would embarrass the organisation. That is why his apology was only to the CNC," the insider said.

Shilowa was abroad last week when Lekota claimed that he had "broken the law" by allegedly failing to account for R20-million granted to the party by the Independent Electoral Commission.

Though the two men presented a united front yesterday by wearing broad smiles as they posed for cameras, Shilowa is said to have been emotional when the issue was discussed by the CNC. He demanded a personal apology from Lekota, but that never came.

At the press conference, Lobe said there would be an investigation to determine whether Lekota's claims against Shilowa had merit.

"Due processes means the audit currently taking place in parliament should be allowed to take its full course. It's only after that process that, as a party, we will sit and say these are the outcomes of the audit process.

"If there is any allegation of mismanagement against the deputy president or anyone within Cope, such an individual will face the full wrath of the law as provided for in various legislation guiding our country," she said.

Lobe told reporters that the weekend meeting had also condemned "the public spat" between Dexter and Shilowa-backer Andile Nkuhlu during a Metro-FM talk show last week.

Both Lekota and Shilowa could not be reached for comment after the meeting yesterday.

In a statement from Lekota's office last night, he said he was "relieved" the party was "back on track".