The African National Congress (ANC) said on Tuesday that it accepts the Electoral Court’s judgment on the registration of the MK Party (MKP) to contest the upcoming elections, and asserts that its case is against the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), which it claims did not follow the law in considering MK’s registration application.

Following the much-awaited judgment on Tuesday, the ANC released a statement, saying it would fully comply with the judgment, this after it had failed to get the MKP deregistered before the May election.

The ANC further set out its case in the statement, explaining why it believed that the IEC’s acting CEO, who considered MKP’s application, did so “without following the spirit and the letter of the Electoral Act”.

“To avoid any misunderstanding, and contrary to what many people have claimed, the case brought by the ANC to the Electoral Court is not a case against the MKP. The ANC accepts that all South Africans have rights to certain fundamental freedoms, among which is the right to join or establish a political party of one’s choice. This is a fundamental freedom for which we fought. The case we are dealing with is essentially between the ANC and the IEC,” the party said.

It asserted that it did not oppose MKP’s presence on the election ballot if the registration process was legally followed.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the party will pursue its legal bid to get the MKP to stop using the logo of the ANC’s military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe.

“The MK logo and name is the heritage and intellectual property of the ANC, we will not allow counter-revolutionaries to hijack our movement for their personal gain,” the ANC said.