COPE no Longer Recognised as a Company by CIPC, South Africans Have a Field Day: "They Couldn't Cope?"

• The Congress of the People (COPE) is staring down yet another scandal just one month after firing prominent leaders
• The political organisation was recently deregistered as a company by the Companies Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC)
• South Africans find the whole situation funny and what would happen if COPE gets deregistered as a political organisation

JOHANNESBURG - The Congress of the People's (COPE) troubles just keep increasing.

The political organisation has been deregistered with the Companies Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) under the Companies Act, meaning it is longer classified as a company.

COPE on shaky ground as it gets deregistered

According to SABC News, lawyers sent a letter to former party member Willie Madisha to approach the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to understand the party's standing with the electoral body.

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While COPE may be deregistered with the CIPC, the party is still recognised as a political organisation under the IEC. The party was formed by disgruntled African National Congress (ANC) members Mosiuoa Lekota and Madisha.

However, the party has been having leadership struggles which led to the firing of Madisha last month. According to News24, squabbles between Lekota and Madisha lead to factional battles within the party.

Why would the CIPC deregister a company?

According to the CIPC FAQ page, companies are typically deregistered if the organisation deems them inactive.

A company is considered inactive if it fails to submit annual returns for two successive years or if the commission believes that the company or close corporation has been inactive for seven years.

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The CIPC states that if the deregistration is due to non-compliance of annual return submissions, the company can appeal the decision by submitting the outstanding returns.

However, if another reason causes the deregistration, the company needs to write a formal cancellation letter to the Deregistration Unit of CIPC.

South Africans react to COPE getting deregistered

@LouisChanguion said:

"If Cope is deregistered as a political party, what will the impact be on existing coalition arrangements and appointment of people in political positions?"

COPE press briefing turns violent, President Mosiuoa Lekota explains he is not suspended

Briefly News previously reported that the Congress of the People (COPE) president Mosiuoa Lekota's media briefing took a violent turn when a party member attacked one of the leaders.

Lekota called the media after his party decided to suspend him for being an ineffective leader earlier this week. A group of unidentified COPE members barged into the briefing and charged at one of the members who was seated at the table.

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According to eNCA, the disgruntled members argued that Lekota had no right to address them because they no longer recognised him as the party's leader.

Source: Briefly News