The ANC will not change the Constitution to protect presidential front-runner Jacob Zuma from corruption charges, ANC youth leader Julius Malema said on Thursday.
Malema, president of the ANC Youth League, told reporters in Johannesburg: "We're not going to agree to any changing of the Constitution to accommodate an individual. This is the Constitution of the people of South Africa. It will never be amended to suit an individual."
"We don't think our president will be in and out of courts when he becomes president of the republic... But what is wrong with the president of the country being in and out of court?," asked Malema.
"There is nothing wrong. He's a citizen of this country. If there is any issue, he must answer. For as long as it's still an allegation, we don't see anything wrong, not at all," said Malema.
His statement was confirmed by African National Congress spokesman Carl Niehaus.
Niehaus said the ruling party would not make any legislative changes to prevent a sitting president from facing charges.
"There's no intention to changing the Constitution whatsoever," said Niehaus.
"I'd spoken my tongue blunt on this... we will seek a legal answer, not a political solution."
Speculation on the possibility of amendments to the Constitution was rife this week after a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling against Zuma on Monday.
The SCA found there was no legal obligation on the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) to invite Zuma to make representations in his fraud and corruption case.
Its ruling overturned part of a Pietermaritzburg High Court judgment, handed down last September, which in effect halted Zuma's prosecution.
But the SCA ruling means that Zuma will again have to face charges of corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering.
A day after the judgment, the ANC's parliamentary caucus asked party lawyers to review the National Prosecuting Authority Act, fuelling speculation that the ruling party was considering amending the Constitution.