The African National Congress needs to assure South Africans it will not follow the path that has led to chaos in Kenya, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Monday.

"Events in Kenya have shown us how quickly a combination of cronyism, populism and ethnic mobilisation can destroy a country's democratic prospects," she said in a statement issued ahead of the ruling party's annual "January 8" policy statement.

"The ANC needs to assure South Africans that it will not lead us down the same road."

The statement, which marks the anniversary of the 1912 founding of the party, is expected to be delivered by newly-elected ANC president Jacob Zuma at a rally on January 12.

Zille said that as it prepared the statement, the ANC had to be conscious of the damage that last month's Polokwane conference had done to South Africa's morale and reputation abroad.

The statement should seek to allay fears that a South Africa under Zuma would not be hostage to populists in the party who appeared to have little respect for the Constitution *1.

"In particular, the party must distance itself from those that seek to undermine the rule of law and it must undertake to respect the outcome of Zuma's trial," she said.

"Talk of a 'political solution' to the trial has no place in a constitutional democracy in which everyone is equal before the law and nobody is above the law."

The party should pledge to stop manipulating state institutions for the advancement of partisan political interests, and clarify the form that the media tribunal mooted at Polokwane would take.

The ANC should also give an assurance that it would not reverse the economic gains the country had made since 1994.

"Interfering with the setting of interest rates and reneging on the Treasury's commitment to run a budget surplus are surefire ways to undermine confidence in South Africa's economy," she said.

With acknowledgement to Sapa.