The ANC has withdrawn an application for an interdict against the chief electoral officer with regards to the name, "Congress of the People".

"On a technicality there is no point with us taking up the matter [with the Independent Electoral Commission]," African National Congress spokeswoman Jessie Duarte said on Tuesday.

This, however, had no impact on the ANC's case to stop the breakaway Cope movement from using the name, Congress of the People, which was expected to proceed in the Pretoria High court on Wednesday.

Duarte said the interdict application was withdrawn against the IEC because the IEC had not yet registered the name Cope.

Therefore technically the ANC did not have an issue with the commission at the moment. Last month, the ANC added the IEC as a respondent in its case against Cope, seeking to prevent it from registering Cope as a party name.

On Tuesday, Duarte said ANC lawyers had therefore decided to separate the case of the IEC from that of the political party Cope.

"Only after the IEC registers the name Cope do we have an issue with them. We stand on our case against Cope," she said.

Cope said in a statement on Tuesday that according to the settlement between the ANC and the IEC, the IEC undertook not to make a decision in Cope's application to register its party name before December 15, and the ANC agreed not to continue with its case against the IEC and also to pay legal costs.

Duarte confirmed this information but said it was "strange" that Cope was speaking for the ANC.

Cope said: "All we can conclude is that the ANC has realised that it has a weak case against the IEC, and without prejudging tomorrow's case, we are confident that their case against us remains weak.'

"We hope that the ruling party will seize running to court in order to stop a democratic process to entrench itself in our political landscape.

"We've always believed that this is a political case meant to stop many of us from exercising our constitutional right to belong to a party our choice," said the party.

The hearing comes just days ahead of Cope's Bloemfontein founding conference.

Last month Duarte said the basis of the ANC's application against Cope name was that no-one should "own" a historical event in South Africa, and that no political party should lay claim to the 1955 Kliptown congress.