The African National Congress and Umkhonto weSizwe Party faced off in court in the second round at the Durban High Court yesterday. This time, the ruling party wants the court to prohibit the newly formed MK party, which is backed by former ANC and the country President Jacob Zuma, to stop using the name and logo which they say are part of its heritage and intellectual property. On Tuesday, the Electoral Court sitting at the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg dismissed the ANC's case where the ruling party wanted MK to be deregistered.

THE LOGOS ARE SIMILAR 

The ANC is accusing the MK party of using a logo and regalia similar to that of their disbanded military wing Umkhinto weSizwe which was formed by the party back in 1960 to fight apartheid. The ruling party's armed struggle was disbanded on 16 December 1993 at a ceremony at Orlando Stadium in Soweto. ANC took MK to court over the copyright infringement as they want the party to refrain from using the logo. In an affidavit read in court yesterday, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula wants the court to force MK to pay royalties for illegally using the logo resembling that of uMkhonto weSizwe. On the other hand, MK party argued that their logo is different from the uMkhonto weSizwe. "For example, the warrior depicted therein is holding his spear above the waist and not above the neck. This signifies a less belligerent posture, given the political victory of 1994. The logo is surrounded by greed green shading in a circle and this signifies the dominant colour of the party," Party founder Jabulani Khumalo said in court papers, adding that if uMkhonto weSizwe was not disbanded in 1993, it would bring an application itself and would not rely on some indirect relationship with the ANC. "The disbandment cannot be wished away." Khumalo said.

THE LOGO WILL CONFUSE VOTERS?

According to Mbalula in his affidavit, MK Party logo will confuse voters into thinking that it is their military wing. "Furthermore, because of the ANC's existing reputation in the uMkhonto weSizwe logo and uMkhonto weSizwe name, the first respondents MK Party unauthorised use of the mark is likely to lead members of the public to believe that there is some connection, in the course of trade, when this is not the case," Mbalula said. In a statement yesterday, Mbalula said that the MK logo and name are the heritage and intellectual property of the ruling party. "We will not allow counter-revolutionaries to hijack our movement for their personal gain." The party said they will not allow Zuma to take away their legacy. "He cannot take away the legacy of the ANC. It's a continuation of fighting for the legacy of the ANC. We are not worried about the outcome and we must state that the spirit is not dampened. Please refer to the MK Party as Jacob Zuma party. This organisation has gone through all manner of splinters. The ANC is not new to people who break away from the party," Mbalula added.

COURT ARGUMENTS 

In his argument in court, Advocate Dali Mpofu representing the MK Party raised two points during his argument, the issue urgency of this trademark and the jurisdiction in which he says the matter was supposed to be heard at the Electoral Court and not at the Durban High Court. He told the court yesterday that the actual intellectual property rights fall under the Legacy Trust and not the ANC. "The ANC is bringing this matter in court as if they own the logo, but the Property Legacy Trust is the owner of the logo," said Mpofu.

He further argued that the ANC submitted their application on 15 January 2024 while they were aware of the formation of the party in May 2023. "They became aware of MK Party events or activities on 9th June 2023. What is more surprising is that on the 7th of June 2023, they decided to go and register Umkhonto weSizwe, under its party claiming that it is owned by the Legacy Project Trust," Mpofu told the court. On the other hand, Advocate Gavin Marriot, who is representing the ANC argued that the unauthorised use of which the trademark is registered is identical or closely linked. "It's idea was that of the ANC's military movement and it should be a separate and independent organ linked to the ANC and under the overall control of the ANC, but fundamentally. The link to the second is under the control of the ANC and that is why we submit that the goodwill that vests in the MK," said Marriot.