The head of the Methodist church of Southern Africa, Bishop Mvume Dandala, has been nominated as the presidential candidate for the Congress of the People (Cope), SABC news reported on Thursday.

In its Thursday evening news bulletin, the public broadcaster announced that it had "reliably learnt" that Dandala came out on top of the party's national list.

But party spokeswoman Palesa Morudu would not be drawn to verify this on Thursday night, saying "a formal announcement will probably be made on Friday".

"We really haven't made a formal announcement. What we said is that we have agreed on the presidential candidate," she said.

It was initially thought that the race for the top position would be between party president Terror Lekota and his deputy, Mbhazima Shilowa.

But Dandala emerged victorious following Cope's national committee meeting which discussed the party's national and provincial nomination lists in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Dandala was recently involved in peace talks in Kenya following that country's post-election violence. He also played a crucial role in talks in South Africa before the 1994 transition.