Court set to hear ANC's case over Zuma-backed MK Party's name and logo use
Wednesday’s proceedings come hot on the heels of Tuesday's ruling by the Electoral Court, dismissing the ANC's bid to have the uMkhonto weSizwe Party deregistered as a political party.
uMkhonto WeSizwe (MK) Party members celebrate on 26 March 2024, after the Electoral Court dismissed the ANC's application to have the party deregistered. Picture: Thabiso Goba/Eyewitness News
DURBAN - The Durban High Court is expected to hear arguments on the case the African National Congress (ANC) has brought against the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party over its name and logo.
The newly formed party, led by former president Jacob Zuma includes former members of uMkhonto weSizwe and members of the uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association.
The ANC feels it’s wrong for the party to use the name and logo, which was given to its armed wing during the apartheid struggle.
Wednesday’s proceedings come hot on the heels of Tuesday's ruling by the Electoral Court, dismissing the ANC's bid to have the uMkhonto weSizwe Party deregistered as a political party.
In December 2023, ANC lawyers wrote to the MK Party threatening to take the matter to court if they did not stop using the logo and name affiliated with the former liberation movement's paramilitary during apartheid.
READ: MK Party says name and trademark belongs to it: 'ANC never registered it'
The MK Party has refused and the ANC’s now made good on that threat, with the parties set to duel it out in court on Wednesday.
All this comes just two months before South Africans head to the polls.