Pretoria - The newly formed break-away Congress of the People (Cope) has ruled out any possibility of a coalition with the African National Congress (ANC) in any of the provinces.
Speculations have been raised that the ruling party might approach Cope for a coalition in the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape.
The latest results from the Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC) Results Operation Centre show that Cope might manage to gain an official opposition status in at least five of the provinces namely Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, North West and Free State.
Cope spokesperson Sipho Ngwema told BuaNews that his party was not interested in working with the ruling party.
"Our position has consistently been that we will not be forming any coalition with them and that has not changed," Mr Ngwema said.
He said the ANC did not need Cope in the Eastern Cape as the ruling party received more than 50 percent of the votes in that province.
Wits University political analyst Proffesor Susan Booysen said judging by the recent history between the two parties, it was unlikely that Cope and the ANC will ever work together.
"A coalition with the ANC would be a political suicide for Cope. They do not have such a mandate from their supporters," Proffesor Booysen said.
She added that supporters of Cope have sacrificed a lot to cast their vote for the party.
