Sijadu elected new COPE youth secretary

Nelson Mandela Bay councillor Siyasanga Sijadu was elected Cope's new national secretary of the Youth Movement.

She was elected at the party’s second national congress held in Bloemfontein on January 18.

Sijadu,27, said she was honoured to be elected as the Youth Movement’s national secretary and that it was humbling to know that there were people who saw potential in her to make a difference.

She said she was approached by members of the party to run for the position previously held by Ntsikelelo April, and as someone who believes in the will of the people, she agreed.

“The vision is to strengthen those existing youth structures in order to have a cohesive message that will help build a stronger Youth Movement,” she said.

In 2016, Sijadu joined the Bay council and formed part of former Bay mayor Athol Trollip’s mayoral committee serving as the political head of sports, recreation, arts and culture.

Asked how she planned on balancing her new role with her duties in the council, Sijadu said that council duties were not as strenuous and time consuming now that she was in the opposition benches, saying she believed that she would cope.

The conference, which kicked off on January 18, saw delegates from all nine provinces send 25 members each with the national executive committee represented by 50 members.

The party’s wings, the Cope Women’s Movement, Cope Youth Movement, Cope Business and Professionals and the Cope Students Movement, were each represented by 10 delegates.

Following the 2014 general elections, Cope had only three seats in the National Assembly, a significant decrease from the 30 seats it had amassed during the 2009 elections.

Asked how she thought her party would do in the upcoming general election, Sijadu said she believed Cope’s prospects were looking “very good”.

“If you recall, part of what made us lose support in 2014 was the infighting caused by the Mbhazima Shilowa camp. Since they left, we have been trying to rebuild and rebrand and as a result we are entering these elections as a united front.

“We are now working to also market our party, more particularly to the younger generation of voters. We are also the one party that is vocal about things that make South Africans uncomfortable,” Sijadu said.