"There is no such thing in a democracy that you can say 'I can have your vote until Jesus Christ comes: that's out," he said at a debate with other political parties in Sandton, Johannesburg. He was referring to a statement ANC president Jacob Zuma had made.
"No party has the right to say 'don't talk to people, they are my voters'," he said.
Since Lekota said he would hold a national convention to gauge public opinion on political issues and possibly form a new political party, the ANC has moved to shore up its position ahead of next year's elections.
Regions had affirmed their support for the party. The North West branch of the Congress of SA Trade Unions had asked members to root out Lekota supporters.
ANC spokeswoman Jessie Duarte said the party welcomed the formation of new parties and did not approve of the behaviour of ANC supporters who disrupted one of the convention's meetings in Orange Farm last Friday.
"We believe in opposition, not enmity," she said.
But the party felt Lekota should do it in his "own space".
She also asked why it had taken Lekota 31 years to raise his concerns, referring to how longer he had been an ANC member. He was voted out as chairman last December and finally suspended.
The Freedom Front Plus's Pieter Mulder warned that the current split from the ANC was not the first and cautioned that the "real split" would come when people start questioning values and mandates.
African Christian Democratic Partly leader Kenneth Meshoe said that the recent swearing and threats showed a level of intolerance in the country. The ANC silenced minority parties in Parliament, he added.
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