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South Africa
ANC breakaway runs into problems over naming new party
Article published on the 2008-11-03 Latest update 2008-11-04 10:07 TU
Supporters of SADC, the new political party
(Credit: Reuters)
The breakaway faction from South Africa's ruling African National Congress ran into problems when its leaders announced plans to register the name they had chosen, South African Democratic Congress, or Sadec, on Monday. An already existing movement claimed that the name is already taken.
As soon as the ANC split announced its proposed name, leaders of another new party, the South African Democratic Congress, using the acronym Sadeco, declared that they had already taken that name.
Sadeco General-Secretary, Samuel Kennedy, told the Johannesburg Mail and Guardian that he had left a message for ANC breakaway leader Mosuioa Lekota to call him to discuss the problem.
He says that the party is registered with the Independent Electoral Commission.
Sadeco is a breakaway from the National Democratic Convention (Nadeco), which previously broke away from the Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party.
The ANC breakaway was led by members who supported South African President Thabo Mbeki in his clash with new party president Jacob Zuma. Its leaders hope to formally launch the new party on 16 December.
It had initially chosen the the name of South African National Congress but the choice was challenged in court by the ANC. Last week a judge postponed the application to Thursday.
The new party is expected to contest elections, due in the first half of 2009, and its leaders said at the weekend that they wanted to be in the government after next year's polls.
Analyst Paul Graham believes that their chances are slim.
"There’s a lot of enthusiasm for the party at the moment but it’s hard to tell whether that will translate into votes," he told RFI. "At the moment the balance of power is 70 per cent for the ANC and 30 per cent for all other parties represented in parliament and it’s unlikely that this new party will be able to form a coalition with all of those." Analysis: Paul Graham, executive director of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa.
