Johannesburg - South Africa's Congress of the People (COPE) has picked a Methodist bishop to lead the party in upcoming elections against the scandal-plagued ruling African National Congress (ANC), the party said Friday.

COPE's choice of Bishop Mvume Dandala to be the face of the party in the April 22 polls is seen as an attempt by the party to position itself as a more moral party than the ANC.

ANC leader Jacob Zuma stands accused of corruption and fraud in relation to a 1990s arms deal. He is due to go on trial after the election, in August.

The ANC leader's reputation was also tarnished by controversial remarks he made about women and HIV/AIDS during his 2005 rape trial. Zuma was acquitted of the rape charges.

Dandala's name only surfaced as a leading contender in the last 24 hours. He is the outgoing general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches and a former head of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa.

Before now, COPE leader Mosiuoa Lekota, a former chairman of the ANC, and his deputy Mbhazima Shilowa, former premier of Gauteng province, were rumoured to be slugging it out for the position.

In announcing Dandala's selection, COPE, South Africa's newest opposition party, said: "South Africa needs an honest, trustworthy and highly-skilled leader, someone who can restore to our people hope and belief in our country."

The Star newspaper said Friday of Dandala that came with "no political baggage," unlike Lekota and Shilowa, who left the ANC to form COPE last year in protest over the party's ousting of former president Thabo Mbeki.

Dandala is expected to officially accept the nomination on Monday.

Despite the corruption cloud hanging over Zuma and other party members the ANC is expected to easily win the elections - the fourth national polls since the end of apartheid in the 1990s. (dpa)