ANC attempts to get Zuma’s new party deregistered, disgraced

The ANC is pushing ahead with its legal campaign to remove the Jacob Zuma-linked uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party as an opponent in the coming election.

According to ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, the ANC was pursuing legal action against MK on two fronts – patent infringement and electoral deregistration.

He was speaking at media briefing yesterday on the resolutions of the recently meeting of the party’s NEC and its NEC lekgotla.

The MK party was registered on 7 September, 2023 and launched in Soweto on 16 December.

The party was named after the former armed wing of the ANC.

Mbalula said the party, which called itself “uMkhonto weSizwe” was meant to confuse the voters, adding it was daylight robbery and looting of ANC assets.

He said the ANC was now challenging its heritage.

“We are saying MK must be deregistered.

“We are taking that matter to the Electoral Court.

“Heads of argument have been filed, so we are in court now, as we speak.

“We expect the court to give us further direction on the matter,” he said.

“The one on the trademark [infringement] will follow, maybe around March. This one is urgent because that uMkhonto weSizwe is our colours, logo, slogans and everything. So, we are not going to allow that.”

Mbalula said the ANC did not agree with Zuma’s politics.

“We defend what belongs to the ANC,” he said.

“If Zuma formed a political party, called it Jacob Zuma Foundation and transformed it into a political party, with his own colours, we’ve got nothing to do with that,” he said.

“But what Zuma has done, is he has stolen the ANC trademark. He has stolen the politics of the ANC.

“He has stolen the membership of the ANC and project himself as a pseudo-revolutionary of which there is no revolution pursued by Zuma.

“He is a classical example of counter-revolution.”

The ANC filed court papers last year to sue former Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter for defamation after he levelled allegations against senior ANC members, whom he claimed were involved in internal corruption at the state-owned power utility.

Mbalula said De Ruyter’s case was still continuing, despite De Ruyter living an “international nomadic life”.

“The High Court in Pretoria agreed with us and gave us a citation to serve De Ruyter with papers.

“We presented him with papers while he was still in Germany but, now, he is in the United States,” he said.

“He shifted. So, when we catch him here, he moves to another direction, but as soon as he touches in South Africa, we will deal with him equally with the same determination to get him to account.”