D-Day for South Africa's 'dissidents'

It is D-day for the COPE, South Africa’s youngest political party. Earlier this week, the African National Congress (ANC) - the country's ruling party -  demanded from the what it calls 'dissidents' to stop using the name Congress of the People. The deadline is today.

The ANC, led my ex vice president Jacob Zuma, argues that it enjoyed common law right the name as it refers to the 1995 event, which led to the adoption of the Freedom Charter.

Furthermore the ruling party argues that in many political circles, the ANC is commonly referred to as the 'Congress of the People' and according to an party spokesperson, the Nguni [one of the 11 official languages in South Africa] translation of the ANC is "khongolese", which means congress.

Meanwhile the leaders of COPE – Terror Lekota and Mbhazima Shilowa – are sticking to their guns . They claim that the ruling party can’t have copy right over the terms ‘congress’ and ‘people’.

The COPE’s refusal to shed its name will lead to a court case, which will have a serious impact on their abilities to campaign for next year’s elections.

The elections have been scheduled for March 25, 2009.  

The new party was established when High Court Judge Chris Nicholson's ruled that the charges of fraud and corruption against party President Jacob Zuma were invalid and politically motivated. As a result, former president Thabo Mbeki was sacked by the National Executive Committee of the ANC.

Out of loyalty with Nelson Mandela’s successor, various politicians handed in their resignation – including Lekota and Shilowa.

For more background info, click here.