FromJohannesburg, VOA reporter Delia Robertson spoke to Joe De Capua about whatCOPE leaders did Friday.
They have been struggling with finding a name for the party becausenames they've settled on have been either already taken or they have beenthreatened with legal action by the ruling African National Congress. And inthis face, in fact, once again the ANC is threatening to challenge their choiceof name in court," she says.
What's wrong with theCongress of the People in the eyes of the ANC? Robertson explains, "It's theuse of the word congress. And it's also the name Congress of the People becausein 1960, the ANC was part of a group of organizations?that participated in theCongress of the People, which was held in Soweto?and where they adopted theFreedom Charter, which in the 1990s would form the basis almost of SouthAfrica's new constitution."
Whilethe ANC is claiming ownership of the Congress of the People name, otherorganizations also attended that same Soweto meeting.
Thelegal battles between the ANC and COPE could continue for months. "I think theANC would dearly love to continue these battles because it makes it difficultfor the party (COPE) to establish itself, to set up organizational structures,to do advertising and all of that sort of thing," she says.
A court could decide theissue one-way or the other. Robertson says that COPE needs to get the matterresolved soon because it wants to participate in upcoming by-elections.