The ANC Youth League had undermined the leadership of the ANC with its comments on helping to bring about regime change in Botswana, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, when it comes to the ANCYL we have had many incidents that show the desire to undermine the ANC leadership under the pretext [of] not understanding the relationship between the two [ANC and ANCYL]," Mantashe said in a statement.

Mantashe said the ANC had no policy of supporting regime change even in countries governed by parties which may not share its ideological outlook.

The ANC believed in respecting the sovereignty of other countries and the "spirit of good neighbourliness", he said.

On Sunday, the ANCYL said it was sending a team to Botswana to consolidate local opposition parties as it believed the government there was "in full co-operation with imperialists" and was undermining the African agenda.

A day later, the ANC totally rejected and publicly rebuked the ANCYL on "its extremely thoughtless and embarrassing pronouncements on 'regime change' in Botswana...".

This was a total deviation from and an affront to ANC policy, he said.

However, the ANCYL then publicly expressed disappointment that the rebuke was made publicly before being discussed internally and said it did not believe its position on Botswana was contrary to ANC policy.

This move and the ANCYL's attempt to "isolate" ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu was viewed as "defiant", said Mantashe.

The ANCYL's actions constituted a "serious transgression", he said.

The ANC would meet the ANCYL's leaders on Monday to discuss the matter.

Mantashe said the ANC's constitution stipulated that the ANCYL would operate autonomously and have its own constitution, rules and regulations provided that these were not in conflict with the ANC's constitution and policies.

"The relations with our neighbours are clearly stated in the Freedom Charter, clause 10; there shall be peace and stability," said Mantashe.

It provided that, among others, the people of Botswana would be free to decide for themselves their own future.

Mantashe said it was resolved at the ANC's last national conference in Polokwane to establish a better understanding of the ideologies and characters of other parties on the continent and to strengthen relations with like-minded parties.

"These resolutions and many others from the different national conferences inform the policy and the work we do in the international arena," he said.

"The ruling parties in the regions, which are not former liberation movements like the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) must be assured that the ANC will continue being a good neighbour."