The ongoing crisis in the ANC should not be seen as a leadership battle between President Thabo Mbeki and former Deputy President Jacob Zuma, according to Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota.

Speaking for the first time on the subject, Lekota, who is also the ANC’s national chairman, said the party was determined not to let Mbeki become embroiled in a leadership contest.

“There is in the mind of many this attitude that there is a contest for the leadership of the ANC ... something I am saying is not correct,” Lekota said.

Mbeki has been criticised for not addressing ANC branches and other party structures about his reasons for sacking Zuma from the Cabinet in June. His only pronouncements on the matter was an announcement on June 14 and subsequent answers to questions from opposition parties in Parliament.

Zuma, on the other hand, has taken the fight to Mbeki, speaking at different forums about how he has been treated badly and unfairly. His increasingly militant public utterances include his recent address outside the Durban Magistrate’s Court, where he threatened to reveal the “real” reason for his prosecution at the end of his trial, and his call this week on ANC supporters to be wary of “academic leaders”.

Lekota told the Sunday Times that despite demands for Mbeki to address the public about the Zuma saga, the President would abide by the instructions of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) that he rather work with Zuma to give “leadership” on the matter.

“If Zuma is talking about his trial where he is charged in his personal capacity and not as leader of the ANC, he is free to talk about it,” he said. Mbeki, however, would not follow suit.

He added that the NEC was concerned about the impact of the ongoing tension in the party. “The NEC took a decision to allow space for the two leaders to reflect on the situation ... to show that it is not a question of a contest between president and deputy president [of the ANC]...

“That is why it is proper that the president should not appear to be contesting the leadership of the ANC with anyone, but follow procedure,” Lekota said.

He could not confirm whether Mbeki and Zuma had met this week but said they were expected to make recommendations on resolving the crisis to the NEC within a week.

Lekota took a swipe at party members who saw Zuma’s sacking as a ploy by Mbeki to prevent his succession.

“Frankly, all the noise about who is going to be the leader of the ANC is not discussed in the party ... Only a few undisciplined elements in the party who are not guided by the processes of the ANC ... [are involved in this idea] ... [they] are irrelevant as far as the ANC is concerned.”

With acknowledgements to Moipone Malefane and the Sunday Times.