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Cope a replica of the ruling ANC, says Grindrod

THE Cope is a big sham that is being run from an empty head office costing R60000 a month.

THE Cope is a big sham that is being run from an empty head office costing R60000 a month.

This was revealed yesterday by Simon Grindrod, who has resigned from Cope's national working committee.

Grindrod, who remains an ordinary party member, accuses the leadership of failing to provide any vision for the party that is different from that of the ANC.

Earlier yesterday, Cope president Mosiuoa Lekota told SABC news that the party still had a role to play.

"It was never wrong for us to initiate Cope at the time we did. The overwhelming positive response of the people of South Africa from all racial groups indicated that the mood of the country was that the people felt they needed an alternative."

Grindrod accuses Cope leadership of having perpetrated fraud against the South African electorate, saying he will not be part of the charade. "It very much appears that Cope was, in the light of recent events, little more than an alternative vehicle for the entrenchment of key individuals who now seek to further what are ANC policies and processes by any other name."

Grindrod said the party was beset by problems ranging from leadership battles, party list manipulation to a culture of denialism.

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