The Congress of the People (Cope) has distanced itself from the City of Joburg Speaker’s unfortunate Hamas comments.
This comes after Colleen Makhubele recently launched an attack on SA politicians who have shown allegiance to Palestine in the Middle East war against Israel, accusing them of being bought.
In a video that went viral last week, Makhubele is heard taking a swipe at ANC leader and President Cyril Ramaphosa and his nemesis in politics, EFF president Julius Malema, among others, for declaring their support for Palestine.
“This Congress of the People will stand with Israel. Do you know what is wrong with this nation? We forget,” Makhubele is heard as saying.
“Lest we forget … it’s easy for money to buy our politicians … to buy our pastors in the church.
“It’s easy for us to forget and just wear scarves,” Makhubele said, seemingly referring to when Ramaphosa and the ANC addressed their members donned in Palestinian scarves.
On Tuesday, the Congress Executive Committee (CEC) of Cope said it had noted with deep concern and utter disappointment the circulating video clip in which its member, “Colleen Makhubele purported to speak on behalf of Cope, making certain unfortunate comments about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas”.
“We would like to place on record that the member was not authorised to speak on behalf of the party. Her views do not represent the party's policy position. It must be noted that she is just an ordinary member and does not hold any leadership position within Cope.”
Cope chairperson Teboho Loate said the president of the party had on October 11 issued a statement in which he expressed the official policy position of the party.
“Our policy position is always to seek peaceful resolution of all conflicts around the world. To this end, we support the two-states solution as contained in the Oslo Accords.
“Having come across this video clip through social media, the Congress Executive Committee discussed it on Thursday, November 2, among many organisational items. It resolved to seek an explanation from the Gauteng provincial leadership, where she is an ordinary member,“ Loate said.
Loate added that this past Saturday, the CEC held a virtual meeting with the Gauteng leadership to discuss the matter.
“After deliberations, it was confirmed that she was out of line and needed to be held accountable in terms of the Code of Conduct for members of Cope.
“The province was tasked with taking this process forward and reporting back to the national authoritative body in due course,” he said.
The Star