The ANC on Saturday said it was dismayed and deeply concerned about allegedly "inflammatory and defamatory" remarks made by Congress of the People (Cope).

Cope youth leader Anele Mda at a Mthatha meeting on Friday called African National Congress president Jacob Zuma "a rapist" and said that if the ANC was re-elected into government under "President Zuma", "rape would no longer be a criminal offence".

In the same meeting, another Cope leader Willie Madisha reportedly called Zuma "SA's Stalin."

He said when "President Zuma" visited the United Nations, people would say "here comes the rapist".

ANC spokesman Carl Niehaus said on Saturday: "This is nothing else, but hate speech of the worst kind. It is also totally devoid of any respect for the law, and it's most basic principle that every person has the right to a fair trial,"

Niehaus labelled the rape statements as outrageous because Zuma was found not guilty of rape.

Zuma was acquitted on a charge of raping a 31-year-old HIV positive woman by the Johannesburg High Court in May 2006.

Niehaus said the remarks further intensified the persecution of Zuma through abuse of the law for political expediency.

"This is totally unacceptable and very serious for the independence of the judiciary.

"We appeal to those who wax lyrical about respect for the Constitution and the rule of law to practice what they preach and to cease making statements that undermine these important principles."

Cope was established by former defence minister and ANC chairman Terror Lekota, his former deputy Mluleki George and former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa. This was after they accused the ruling new leadership of deviating from the Freedom Charter.