The African National Congress is prepared to look at different electoral systems, secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said on Thursday.

He said he was, however, not convinced that a directly elected president would be an improvement on the country's current system.

Mantashe was adressing journalists and editors at a breakfast in Durban.

Mantashe said: "Every electoral system has its weaknesses and its strengths."

The ANC would be open to debate about the current system and that "lessons could possibly be learnt from the municipal system", which includes directly elected candidates as well as a party list.

"The emphasis of a directly elected president is very mischievious," Mantashe said, referring to the Congress of the People's call to have a directly elected president.

He cited Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as an example of a system where the president was directly elected. He also referred to the former National Party's 1948 election where it won the most constituencies but not the most votes.

The establishment of the Congress of the People did not automatically mean that there was a need for a new political system, said Mantashe.