The Congress of the People says voters are attracted to the party because its leaders have displayed principled values, even when it seemed unpopular to do so.

“We do not shy away from stating facts that are unpopular, and we will not go and give people promises that we know are not going to happen. We must tell the truth,” said Pakes Dikgetsi, the National Chairperson of the Congress of the People (COPE).

Asked about COPE’s prospects and strategy going into the 2019 election, Digketsi believes the 2019 national and provincial polls are “going to be about principled leadership and telling the truth about the affairs of the nation…we are certain that we are going to return a sizable number of seats on behalf of the Congress of the People.”

The party received 0.67% support in the 2014 national elections, sending only three of its members to the National Assembly. This was a nearly 90% decline compared to results in 2009 where the party managed to garner 7.42% vote, securing 30 seats in the National Assembly. Dikgetsi told Political Analysis South Africa on Monday, 23 April 2018 that the decline in COPE’s voter base is nothing new and that it is a general trend among other political parties as well.

Dikgesti says the party’s strategy in next years elections will be to provide alternative solutions to the African National Congress’ (ANC) policies, which, according to him, have failed to create an inclusive economy.

”The ruling party has failed to have an inclusive economy…the ruling party has presided over massive destruction of jobs in the manufacturing sector, in the mining sector and in the agricultural sector,” he said.

“The country has bled a lot of jobs in that regard because of bad policies and where they have good policies they have failed to implement them,” he added.