The ANC lost a monumental battle to claim the name Congress of the People on Friday.

On Friday morning Judge Ben du Plessis ruled in favour of the breakaway faction of the ruling party - dismissing the ANC's application with costs.

Du Plessis, who read out the judgment alone, took less than a minute to hand down judgment."In my view the mere use of the name Congress of the People does not convey that COPE actually is actually the 1955 Congress of the People.

"No reasonable voter, even those with but a passing knowledge of the relevent history, will think that COPE a party established in 2008, is the event that took place in 1955."