South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) is doubling down on legal efforts to undercut a breakaway party formed by former President Jacob Zuma, filing a copyright infringement case even after failing to get the group barred from May’s national elections.
The latest salvo came on Wednesday as the ANC brought its complaint against the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party to the Durban High Court. The MK party takes its name from the now-disbanded armed wing that was pivotal in the ANC’s anti-apartheid struggle.
“The ANC still remains resolute in pursuing justice and protecting its names that forms part of the ANC’s liberation struggle heritage,” party officials said of the copyright action.
The case comes just days after South Africa’s electoral court rejected the ANC’s bid to prevent the MK party from contesting the upcoming polls. That ruling allowed the Zuma-backed party to stay on the ballot.
it said “uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) was formed on the 16th of December 1961 as an armed wing of the ANC. The legacy of the MK cannot be detached from that of the ANC”.
However, some analysts view the ANC’s copyright lawsuit as a wasteful and desperate attempt to marginalize a potential political threat.
“ANC have no trademark, this is just a wasteful and fruitless exercise. SG office was caught napping and now they trying by all means to act as if everything is above board,” one commentator said, referring to the governing party’s Secretary-General’s office.
Others questioned the ANC’s priorities amid major socioeconomic issues facing South Africa. “But you can’t defend unemployment, potholes, gender-based violence, poverty and many challenges in SA..Your useless,” a critic said.
Meanwhile the ANC Secretary-General, Comrade Fikile Mbalula, has been addressing scores of ANC supporters on the sidelines of the copyright infringement application case against the MK Party.
The copyright case renews the ANC’s effort to push back against its former leader Zuma, 81, who has regalvanized opposition to the party he once headed as President from 2009-2018. Zuma was forced out over corruption allegations he has denied.
Throwing his weight behind the newly-formed MK party in December, Zuma claimed it would carry forward the ANC’s historic “spear of the nation” armed struggle legacy which he participated in during apartheid.
However, the ANC has accused Zuma’s MK party of opportunistically misusing “military symbolism” merely to “erode” its support base ahead of the May 29 elections.
With opinion polls suggesting the ANC’s dominance could slip for the first time since 1994, preventing an emboldened Zuma from capitalizing on the party’s internal fractures has become a pressing priority for the governing party.
