Defectors from SA's ANC who are launching a breakaway faction said on Monday there was no turning back in the run-up to next year's elections.

"The ANC more than anybody else should know that there is no possibility of us going back, we are now looking forward to the elections," said Mosiuoa Lekota, interim chairperson of the new party.

"Even if some of us do decide to rejoin the ANC, that will not mean an end of the party... it will always be there," said Lekota.

The Congress of the People (Cope) will officially launch at a rally on Tuesday where it will announce its top leadership. It is also holding a two-day conference to iron out an election campaign and formally adopt policies.

The party was formed after several former high profile ANC and government members quit office following the ANC ouster of former president Thabo Mbeki.

The formation of the party has been marked by intense confrontation with ANC supporters and junior political partners who have disrupted party meetings and fired verbal attacks against the breakaway faction.

The party's name has also been the subject of a fierce court battle with the ANC, which accuses the defectors of laying claim to an historic meeting in the 1950s.

The party took their launch event to Bloemfontein, a farming province in heartland of the country which holds significant historic memories as the ANC birthplace in 1912.

The new Cope party said it chose that city as a reminder of principles that the ANC has abandoned.

"The ANC has veered off the principles and values that laid the foundation of the party.... We want to revive those ideals and lead our people to a better future," said interim general secretary Charlotte Lobe.

The movement marks a dramatic shake-up in South African politics, which has been dominated by the ANC, which led the struggle against apartheid and got Nelson Mandela elected as the country's first black president.

AFP