Cope will not make promises it cannot keep, the party's first deputy president Mbhazima Shilowa said in Bloemfontein on Tuesday.

"We are not hunting for votes on false promises... and then later the people get angry with us.... Our saying is a promise made is a promise kept."

He was addressing an array of journalists from around the world who had gathered at the University of the Free State on the final day of the inaugural conference of the Congress of the People (Cope).

The party's president Mosiuoa Lekota said they would think carefully when deciding who would represent the party for the 2009 election.

"We must think very carefully when the time comes: who will serve our people best in that position... a combination of members will be best for the election campaign."

Newly elected treasurer, Hilda Ndude said those members of Cope who had served with the ANC had learnt a lot.

"We have learnt from the mistakes of the ANC. We don't want to repeat the same mistakes."

South Africa’s credibility

Ndude said South Africa had lost its credibility because of the mistakes of the ANC and "the kind of leadership elected in Polokwane".

"I left politics in 1998 because I felt at the time that what needed to be done had been done...but I was mistaken.

"The scales of South Africa's credibility had dropped... and we now need to take the scales even higher."

Ndude, a former ANC MP turned businesswoman, urged people not to be afraid of change.

"How are you going to know new faces if you don't give them a chance?" she asked.

Ndude said Cope intended taking South Africa to new heights with an across the board equality system.

"I have never in my history with the ANC seen the kind of response of white people to any party than to this organisation.

"This is the spirit that we all should take to show the differences between Cope and the ANC... that colour does not matter."

Secretary-general Charlotte Lobe said Cope's focus now was on the upcoming election.

Sapa