The political endgame for former UCDP leader Lucas Mangope seems imminent after he was slapped with another suspension from the party.

The latest development came after the leadership’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Mahikeng on Sunday.

Mangope, 89, had been thrown out of the party more than a year ago but had successfully fought through the courts to regain his membership.

The Supreme Court of Appeal pronounced in his favour earlier this year when it ruled that his membership be reinstated.

However, the ruling was interpreted by some of his supporters to mean that he was to remain party leader, a view fiercely opposed by the NEC’s leader, Sipho Mfundisi.

The leadership said it had extended an olive branch to Mangope so they could discuss his standing in the party but indicated that the former leader spurned all such attempts.

Instead, Mangope further incensed the party’s leadership when he made addresses in the capacity of leader.

On February 9, the party’s highest decision-making body, the federal council, resolved that if Mangope did not honour invitations for party meetings, he should be suspended. In a statement, the party said it had tried on numerous occasions to schedule a discussion with Amngope but he would neither turn up nor respond to letters sent to him.

“It is therefore incumbent upon the NEC to activate the mandate given by the federal council. Therefore, Kgosi LM Mangope is suspended with immediate effect and should not be allowed to participate in any party issues henceforth,” it reads.

For more details go to http://www.thenewage.co.za

Mangope could not be reached for comment.