Democracy needed "to produce good results" and not a strong opposition to be successful, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.

"There are some [who] say that to have a good democracy we need a strong opposition. Democracy must produce results," Zuma said at a Progressive Business Forum dinner at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand.

Urging the business community to support the ANC ahead of the upcoming local government elections, he said that "supporting the ANC is an investment that is done wisely".

Zuma said the ANC's policies had led to a reduction in poverty.

He said that while only 36% of households had access to electricity in 1994, 84% of households had access to electricity in 2011.

"We are fully aware that these achievements can be undermined by inequalities that are the legacy of apartheid."

Zuma said that the ANC was unique in that it had garnered community support for its candidates and they had not been forced on communities.

In an apparent reference to the Democratic Alliance he said: "Why would you spend money on something that cannot grow."

On the Congress of the People, he said that those who wished to leave the organisation should do so alone as organisations which had left the party had not succeeded.

The leather jacket Zuma wore at the National General Council in Durban in October was auctioned for R400 000 at the dinner, which was attended by many senior members of the ANC as well as a number of leading business personalities.