MK Party says name and trademark belongs to it: ‘ANC never registered it’

JOHANNESBURG - The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party says the name and trademark of the apartheid-era military organisation belongs to it and not the African National Congress (ANC).

On Tuesday, the MK Party won its first battle against the ANC, as the governing party’s application to have it deregistered was dismissed by the Electoral Court.

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On Wednesday, the two parties will face off at the Durban High Court over the name and logo of MK.

Historically, MK was formed as the militant wing of the ANC during the apartheid era.

In 1993, the ANC disbanded MK and formed the MK Military Veterans’ Association, which it also disbanded in 2021.

In its court papers, the ANC says the newly formed MK Party is unlawfully using a name and logo that had long been associated and trademarked by the former liberation movement.

MK Party founder and chairperson, Jabulani Khumalo, has denied this.

“MK trademark is ours. ANC never registered the trademark. They are lying but we will tell them.”

Khumalo said the court challenges by the ANC are because it is scared of the electoral threat posed by the MK Party.