Читать книгу Misadventures of a Cope Volunteer - Michiel le Roux - Страница 5

Mosiuoa ‘Terror’ Lekota, Cope co-founder and president

Born: 13 August 1948

Struggle credentials:

 Became full-time organiser for South African Students’ Organisation (SASO) in 1974

 Imprisoned at Robben Island Prison for ‘conspiring to commit acts endangering the maintenance of law and order’ in 1974

 Released and elected publicity secretary of the United Democratic Front in 1983

 Detained in 1985 and later sentenced in the Delmas Treason Trial

Post-1994 politics:

 Premier of the Free State 1994–1996

 Minister of Defence 1999–2008

 African National Congress (ANC) National Chairperson 1997– 2007

 Said to be a staunch Mbeki-ite

Interesting fact: His nickname, Terror, refers to his skills as a soccer player.

Other: Lekota’s cell phone never stops ringing; he always has time for fans, likes driving fast, doesn’t mind eating takeaways on a street corner and always keeps the bones for his dog.

Mbhazima ‘Sam’ Shilowa, Cope co-founder and deputy president

Born: 30 April 1958

Struggle credentials:

 Joined the trade union movement in 1981 and later became president of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union

 Played a prominent role in the formation of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in 1985

 Part of the ANC’s negotiating team at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (Codesa) in Kempton Park in the early nineties

Post-1994 politics:

 Cosatu General Secretary 1993–1999

 Premier of Gauteng Province 1999–2008

Interesting fact: Credited with instigating Gauteng’s Gautrain project, which was initially dubbed the ‘Shilowa Express’.

Other: After moving to Johannesburg in 1979 Shilowa briefly worked as a security guard at The Star newspaper offices. Decades later, as premier of Gauteng, he became famous for always wearing red socks. Nowadays hangs out in fancy restaurants, and is rumoured to have expensive tastes in wine.

Lynda Odendaal, briefly Cope second deputy president

Born: 23 September 1964

Political history: None

Professional background: Appointed chief executive officer of Network Support Services, an IT service management solutions company, in 2005

Interesting fact: Stands a mere 1.5m tall, but what she lacks in height she makes up for in vigour.

Other: As a businesswoman, she offered Cope office space during the election campaign. She was a volunteer at the party’s founding conference in Bloemfontein and was busy working on the delegate database when, to her great surprise, her name was announced as a party leader.

Juli Kilian, Cope’s National Party Liaison Committee representative to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)

Born: 31 July 1952

Political history:

 Started as a National Party (NP) volunteer in the 1980s, and later became an NP election campaign manager

 Served on the Johannesburg City Council 1991–1994

 Member of the Gauteng provincial legislature 1994–2004

 Briefly joined the Democratic Alliance (DA) after the NP dissolved, before becoming involved with Cope

Interesting fact: Juli is a real elections guru, the kind who can quote legislative clauses off the cuff. She has an insider contact in every political party and at every news desk around the country.

Other: She is also a closet landscape architect and, despite having mastered the double-click, suffers from occasional bouts of technophobia.

Johan Kilian, Cope’s election manager

Born: 17 June 1942

Political history:

 National Party youth leader 1964–1974

 Served in various positions in the NP over the following three decades, eventually becoming a National Executive Council member

 Administrator of Vaal Triangle townships, including Sebokeng, Bophelong, Sharpeville and Boipatong, during the transition years

 Provincial leader of New NP in Gauteng 1997–2004

 Member of the Gauteng provincial legislature 1994–2004

Interesting fact: Johan’s involvement in politics dates back further into the past than most history books care to delve. He has been around forever and there isn’t a predicament on earth for which he does not have an anecdote, usually from his National Party days. He is proud of his Afrikaner heritage without harbouring any bitterness about the new South Africa.

Other: Married to Juli Kilian. Johan is as much an extension of Juli as she is of him; they are a formidable team.

Moeketsi Mosola, Cope’s chairman of the National Elections Task Team

Born: 23 May 1963

Political history:

 Spent most of his life in the United States after going there to study

 Returned to South Africa after democratisation and became CEO of SA Tourism (2004–2009)

Interesting fact: Moeketsi is the ultimate boss to work for. He is to the point, decisive and goal-orientated. He likes a glass of whiskey and has a passion for sport.

Mvume Dandala, Cope’s 2009 presidential candidate

Born: 26 October 1951

Professional background:

 Limited early-life political involvement, e.g. serving as the local chairman of the South African Student Organisation (SASO) at the Federal Theological Seminary in Alice

 Former presiding bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, and a former head of the All Africa Council of Churches

Interesting fact: Dandala has the friendliest smile in the business. He has a mischievous way of looking at you over his glasses as if you’ve been friends for years.

‘The one thing you can say without hesitation is that we

are united on the basis that the national Constitution as it stands today

must be defended and democracy must be deepened.’

– Mosiuoa Lekota, November 2008

‘Why struggle if you can Cope?’

– Mbhazima Shilowa, February 2009