Wikileaks: Mbeki was behind Cope

Ousted president Thabo Mbeki was directly involved in the formation of Cope, the ANC breakaway party, according to a secret US diplomatic note obtained by Media24.

The note is dated December 5, 2008, and revolves around a meeting between a diplomat, the US embassy and a Unisa professor, Dirk Kotze, Beeld newspaper reported on Thursday, under a headline naming the website WikiLeaks as the source.

According to the note Mbeki, who was asked to resign as president of the country by the African National Congress in September 2008, was involved in writing the Congress of the People's policy documents.

Kotze reportedly told the US diplomat that Cope spokesman Smuts Ngonyama, a former spokesman for Mbeki, had said the policy document was drafted by Mbeki.

"Smuts made it very clear that it [the policy document] had come from Mbeki," said Kotze.

He added: "The document has all the characteristics of many of Mbeki's ANC letters."

Both Kotze and Ngonyama denied the report.