Jacob Zuma has dismissed the notion that his fall from grace came as a result of a silent war between Zulus and Xhosas in the African National Congress.

In an interview with The Star in Durban on Sunday, he said his support was not limited to KwaZulu-Natal.

"This is not a Xhosa-Zulu issue. As one of the leaders of the ANC, I have support across the country, otherwise I would not have been elected to many leadership positions, including that of deputy president.

'You cannot punish the ANC for the mistakes of others' "It was not Zulus who elected me; I was elected by people from across the board. The unfortunate thing is that in politics, people love to use labels. Wherever I go, be it Limpopo or Eastern Cape, I get the same reception I get in KZN."

For instance, he said, when his car got a puncture at the weekend in the Eastern Cape, where he had gone to pay his last respects to the late King Xolilizwe Sigcau, the local people were so excited to see him that they broke into his favourite song, Awulethe umshini wami (Bring my machinegun).

He cautioned those who were saying they would not vote for the ANC because he had been ill-treated by the movement.

"You cannot punish the ANC for the mistakes of others. If you do not vote for the ANC, you are weakening it, and a weak ANC would not be able to deal with the challenges facing the country," he said.

He added that a strong ANC was needed to correct whatever mistakes were made by the government.

'I want to work with people, and one of my wishes is to write a book' Zuma did not rule himself out of the running to become the country's next president, saying the matter must be left to the people to decide.

It was not up to any individual within the ANC to go around saying that he or she wanted to be president of the ANC, as such a decision lay with the membership.

Zuma, who is facing two charges of corruption and one of rape, was being interviewed about his plans for the future, and his daily activities since being relieved of his duties as deputy president and since his activities in the ANC were scaled down.

Zuma was fired as deputy president in June after his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, was found guilty of fraud and corruption, and the two were found to have been in "a generally corrupt relationship". After this, Zuma was charged with two counts of corruption, and later a charge of rape.

On his plans for the future, Zuma said that, "like anyone else", he would like to see his children growing and being educated, and to work with the people, whether he was in the government or not.

"Generally, I want to work with people, and one of my wishes is to write a book," he revealed.

With acknowledgements to Zukile Majova , Sipho Khumalo and The Star.