With the expulsion of Congress of the People (Cope) deputy president Willie Madisha and elections secretary Mzwandile Hleko finalised, national spokesperson Dennis Bloem appears next in line to exit the party.

Late last year, Madisha, Hleko and Bloem were members of the faction that was pushing party leader Mosiuoa Lekota to vacate his position.

Madisha and Hleko's membership was terminated on 25 June, and it is understood that Bloem was also informed of the party's intention to fire him.

Addressing a media briefing on Tuesday from Braamfontein in Johannesburg, the Cope leadership in Gauteng said Bloem's fate would soon be decided on. 

The briefing was held by, among others, Cope Gauteng chairperson Tom Mofokeng and City of Johannesburg Speaker Colleen Makhubele.

The latter confirmed that "Madisha and Nhleko have been expelled, while a decision on the future of Bloem is set to be finalised soon".

"You would remember that warning shots were fired in the form of the suspension of the trio last year, but this was met with complete disregard and they responded by unlawfully suspending the president," said Makhubele. 

In March, Mofokeng and Cope Gauteng deputy secretary Johnny Mokome accused Madisha and Bloem of protecting embattled former Tshwane mayor Murunwa Makwarela following his submission of an allegedly fake insolvency clearance certificate. The law prohibits a person who has been declared insolvent from holding public office.

At the time, Mofokeng said that Cope Gauteng had alerted national party leaders of Makwarela's insolvency, but no action was taken.

Mofokeng claimed that Cope members were not properly vetted, given the short time the party had to conduct the vetting process leading up to the 2021 municipal elections.

"People such as Dennis Bloem and deputy president William Madisha have made it a habit to meddle in the province's affairs. They are the ones who have been protecting Makwarela.

"We alerted the national leadership to the fact that, because of time [constraints], ... some could have fallen through the cracks in terms of vetting, given the short time we had leading up to the local government elections," said Mofokeng.

Madisha, Bloem and Hleko failed to suspend Lekota. 

In August 2022, Bloem said the Cope congress national committee (CNC) had the power to suspend members and approved the party leader's suspension. 

He said the decision was valid as the decision had been taken by a properly constituted CNC.

Bloem said, "We, as the CNC, had a meeting on Sunday which was duly constituted. By this, I mean the meeting [achieved] the necessary quorum, given that six of the nine provinces were there. Seven directly elected members, as well as the youth and women's leagues, were present. At this meeting ... we took the decision to suspend Mr Lekota."

In a turn of events, Cope national chairperson Teboho Loate and Lekota announced that the CNC suspended Madisha, Bloem and Hleko. 

There was, however, no evidence that the two had held a meeting with the CNC or that the CNC had approved such a decision.

Bloem denied claims by Loate that he had been issued with a suspension letter or received any communication from Cope's legal representatives at the behest of Lekota or Loate, as claimed by the two.

"I don't know these other rumours that are going on that I've been suspended. I have been looking through my emails, and this letter which they purport to have sent announcing my suspension is not there.

"Besides this, who are the 'we' that Lekota and Loate claim endorsed our suspension, as the CNC is the only structure empowered to do so," said Bloem.

An olive branch seemed to have been extended by both parties until Cope secretary-general Eric Mohlapamaswi announced on Sunday that a decision to axe Madisha and Nhleko had been taken at the party's national committee meeting over the weekend. 

During Tuesday's briefing, Mofokeng described Madisha, Bloem and Hleko as a law unto themselves.

"We were working with leaders who were not willing to listen to anybody, but looking to do what I understand as stealing the party," he said.

Makhubele said Bloem had asked for more time to respond to the party, and that his fate  would only be decided on after his submission are taken into account.

The party seems beset with clashes over leadership positions. Just hours after Mofokeng announced the Gauteng leadership's intention to hold a media briefing on Tuesday, a statement was released by the Gauteng interim provincial committee warning him against engaging with the media.

It claimed he intended to mislead the public over developments in the party.

The Cope in Ekurhuleni, through its acting regional secretary Thembani Makumba, sent a letter to Lekota's assistant, flagging that the region didn’t resolve or instruct Mofokeng to speak to the media.