The KwaZulu-Natal High Court has dismissed the ANC’s application against former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party over its logo, which the ANC claimed was ‘its heritage and asset’.
As reported by News24, acting Judge Nicolette Beket dismissed the application on Monday, in which the ANC sought an order that compelled the MK party to pay reasonable ‘royalties’ or damages for its use of a logo.
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The ANC claimed that it resembled the branding of its former armed wing, uMkhonto weSizwe, and wanted the MK party to ‘desist from using the logo’. According to BusinessDayLive, uMkhonto weSizwe was the ANC’s liberation-era military wing until it was disbanded in 1993.
‘[The ANC] can appeal. No matter how many times they want to appeal, we will still win it,’ said Jabulani Khumalo, MK party founder, after the judgement.
‘They have got no facts. They were just trying to disturb us from our good cause, which is to try and win the elections,’ Khumalo added.
Leaders of the ANC did not attend the proceedings of the court case, as benches marked for ANC delegates were empty.
This is the second defeat the ANC has faced against the MK party, in terms of their legal battles against Jacob Zuma’s MK Party.
The ANC experienced its third defeat in an application to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to deregister the MK party. This was on the basis of ‘alleged irregularities’ in its registration process.
The MK party also won in a case relating to an objection at the Electoral Court against an IEC decision that would’ve resulted in the barring of Zuma from contesting the elections.
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