The national convention's aim was to divide and disrupt the ANC and its allies, Cosatu said on Thursday.

It was also aimed at providing a launching pad to reinstate the discredited agenda which was defeated democratically at the ANC's Polokwane conference, the union federation said in a statement.

"They know they cannot defeat the ANC in a straight fight but aim to confuse voters with false, demagogic promises in the hope of cutting its majority and preventing the implementation of the many progressive resolutions passed at Polokwane."

Describing the spearheaders of the convention as "born-again democrats aiming at forming a black DA", Cosatu said the convention would fail as it insulted the intelligence of South Africans and was in contempt of democracy.

"We are convinced that they will fail in this attempt and we will do all in our power to expose their agenda to the country as a whole."

Cosatu questioned how the "black DA" was going to be different from the ANC and if those leading the party expected people to trust their ideals as they had previously shunned the poor while in the ranks of the ruling party.

A party with serious policies?

"For the minority of delegates who may be attending this jamboree mistakenly believing that it is a genuine political movement with serious policies, we suggest that you pose and ask yourselves what they have done, during their term of office, to fight corruption and cronyism."

People should consider that the "new DA" would abandon economic policies they previously promoted while still within the ranks of the ruling party.

"Is their unhappiness with the ANC because it [the party] has decisively shifted away from the 1996 pro-rich Gear policies and now wants to move government in a pro-poor direction?

"Why did [they] not object when the RDP was abandoned in favour of the neo-liberal Gear strategy which led to massive job losses, poverty and widening inequalities?" Cosatu asked.

The "black DA" was hypocritical in that while it claimed to be fighting against undemocratic organisational practices, it had refused to accept the democratic process at the ANC's national conference in Polokwane.

The convention, led by disaffected ANC members, will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre with provincial delegates set to arrive and register on Friday.

Sapa