The cracks in COPE could put its municipal election campaign on shaky ground with the Mbhazima Shilowa faction of the party announcing that it will boycott the May 18 elections.

Shilowa's faction has announced that it will "neither field candidates nor campaign in the local government elections" in protest at the Independent Electoral Commission's decision to list Mosiuoa Lekota as the party's president.

Sipho Ngwema, the Shilowa faction spokesman, accused Lekota of rigging the candidate lists submitted to the IEC ahead of the elections.

"Reports from parts of the nine provinces indicate that Lekota blocked our members from legitimate structures from submitting their lists, and even instructed the IEC not to accept any lists where he personally did not have any support," Ngwema said yesterday.

"In all cases, he changed the lists and put his supporters on top in the proportional lists with our members left to campaign in the insecure section of ward candidates."

Ngwema claimed that Lekota had no support base within COPE and said the elections would "expose him beyond doubt".

"In some cases, the Lekota faction has dangled an illusionary carrot to our members in an effort to exploit their grassroots support for the benefit of his members."

But Lekota's spokesman, Phillip Dexter, said he was "not surprised" by Ngwema's comments. He said the Shilowa faction "deserved" what was happening to it.

Asked if he thought the election boycott by the Shilowa faction would affect his camp's campaign, Dexter said: "Not at all. He and his followers are a spent force."

Dexter said the IEC decision to recognise lists submitted by the Lekota faction showed "there is only one COPE".

Ndzipho Kalipa, head of elections for the Lekota faction, said: "Our wards are now free of candidates who [wanted to] destabilise COPE."