ANC defectors to form new party

A breakaway faction of South Africa's ruling ANC decided on Saturday to form a new party to contest elections next year, a move that could dramatically reshape the country's post-apartheid political landscape.

The rebellion by members loyal to former South African President Thabo Mbeki, ousted by the ANC in September, has thrown the traditionally united party into disarray and stoked fears of rising instability in Africa's richest economy.

The new party will be launched in South Africa's Free State province on Dec 16, Mbhazima Shilowa, a Mbeki ally and former provincial premier, told several thousand delegates at a convention in Johannesburg.