Lekota pens thoughts for newsletter
COPE leader Mosiuoa Lekota has joined the ranks of political newsletter writers. By many standards he’s somewhat late following the party’s formation in 2008 – and “Cope Speaks” made its debut about 10 years after then DA leader Tony Leon started SA Today, and more than 14 years since then president Thabo Mbeki wrote the first “Letter from the President” in a newly launched ANC Today.
Former DA leader Helen Zille took over the online SA Today when she grabbed the party reins from Leon. ANC Today also continued as its presidents changed. However, since taking over in May, DA leader Mmusi Maimane ditched the written word for a weekly video, Bokamoso.
But Lekota took the more traditional route of penning a first ever five-page missive. Weaving together recollections of Robben Island jail time and a visit to Mykonos island, he blamed the large cabinet for potential tax recommendations which might put further pressure on consumers’ pockets.
“By allowing the president to dip heavily and freely into state coffers to reward his large band of loyalists at the taxpayers’ expense, we have too much unnecessary government and too little necessary infrastructure development,” Lekota wrote last Friday.
Mbeki in his first missive on January 26, 2001 congratulated the ANC communications team for launching ANC Today – and went on to recount the banning of progressive journalists, one of the few constituencies representing the ANC’s views amid the commercial mass media.
“ANC Today will make an important contribution towards filling the void of the voicelessness of millions of people, that is a direct legacy of more than 300 years of colonialism and apartheid,” Mbeki wrote.
Until his recall in September 2008, Mbeki’s “Letter from the President” was a permanent weekly feature of ANC Today. The issue of September 22, 2008 featured then ANC president Jacob Zuma’s statement on Mbeki’s recall following a national executive committee meeting. Four days later, the next edition featured “Viewpoint” by Kgalema Motlanthe, set to become the country’s president.
From then on the regular, signed presidential letter no longer appeared quite as regularly, and frequently was unsigned, as “Viewpoint” by various ANC luminaries became a feature alongside statements on various issues like manifesto launches and commemoration days. These days ANC Today features a frequent “Reader’s Forum” alongside the regular “Viewpoint”, a platform to express various views on anything from policy to condolences by a range of ANC leaders, including the president.
The DA’s online SA Today often responded to ANC related matters: for example, Leon in early 2004 took on Mbeki over rumours that he was seeking a third term, and in 2006 claimed Mbeki was behind moves to oust Zille as Cape Town mayor. But it was also used for internal DA issues, including when Zille reasserted her party’s rejection of employment equity quotas after the parliamentary caucus strayed off the path by supporting amendment legislation in late 2013.
Currently Maimane’s preferred medium is the videoed Bokamoso, his “weekly message” on broad political issues available on the DA website, and now also on subscription: “Sign up to receive his fresh analysis of current affairs in South African politics direct to your inbox” a pop-up on the DA website touts. Meanwhile, Zille writes for InsideGovernment.