The ANC Women’s League has attacked Cope over its claims that President Jacob Zuma was planning to sack Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and replace him with Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
The attack on Cope by the ANCWL on Sunday came after reports emerged last week of a planned Cabinet reshuffle.
ANCWL Secretary-General Meokgo Matuba accused Cope of suffering from a Polokwane hangover. This relates to the split by some top senior ANC leaders in 2008 to form Cope after the defeat of former President Thabo Mbeki by Zuma at the Polokwane conference in 2007.
Matuba said Cope should get over the Polokwane hangover and focus on its business as it was dying a slow death. She said the ANCWL would never direct Zuma to appoint anyone including Dlamini-Zuma into Cabinet.
Matuba also said Cope spokesman Dennis Bloem knows very well how the process of appointing Ministers works.
“Mr Bloem as a former member of Parliament is expected to know that the prerogative of appointing Cabinet members (is the prerogative) of the State President as explicitly stated in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
“The ANCWL respects those Constitutional powers vested to the state president and will not interfere in that,” she said.
The ANCWL recently endorsed Dlamini-Zuma to take over as ANC leader in December when the president steps down.