Lekota hangs on to hope of opportunity to serve in Parliament

JOHANNESBURG - Among many political parties waiting to see the appearance of the first counted ballots on the leaderboard at the IEC’s national results operation centre is 75-year-old Congress of the People (COPE) leader Mosiuoa Lekota.

He told Eyewitness News that South Africans had no right to deny him another opportunity to serve in the country’s Parliament.

Lekota is at the helm of the party, which was on Wednesday a shadow of its former self.

Several politicians said they will only call it a night once the first few votes have been captured.

Lekota continues to blame the ANC for the country’s downward trajectory.

And while none of the new parties have managed to make half the splash his party produced when it was launched in 2009, some predicted that this was the end of the road for Lekota and his outfit.

But the elder politician said it would be wholly unfair to leave him on the sidelines.

"These people who have been given a chance to govern, and govern, and govern, they’ve got a huge track record of theft, corruption, of uncontrollable proportions. Now you cannot say to someone who’s let you down, no, we must dismiss you."