The African National Congress (ANC) is hoping to clamp down on the use of money to influence leadership contests, its national organiser and Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula said on Tuesday.

The party was considering dismissing and criminally prosecuting members found to have raised money outside the ANC's defined formal structures and processes to influence the outcome of conferences, Mbalula said.

"Money is a big problem for us in the ANC," he told a media interaction session in Sandton.

Mbalula said that the party's leaders should be elected on the basis of their ability to lead and not on how well-resourced they were.

National executive committee member Febe Gqubule-Potgieter said that the use of money in elective processes had been a concern for the ANC "for a while".

She said that the party was developing guidelines for lobbying, and those who raised money outside these guidelines could face being disqualified from elections.

Mbalula said that money exchanged was like a "ghost". No one knew where the funds came from and the donors often had ulterior motives.

"We provide good food, they eat Nandos... we provide Oros, they drink Fanta," he said of those who received money at elective conferences.

Gqubule-Potgieter said that it was difficult to catch those who obtained money outside the formal processes and the party might have to rely on whistle-blowers to expose the practice.

The ANC's rules for lobbying would be debated at the national general council in September.

Gqubule-Potgieter said that it was a time for the ANC to reflect on itself.

"... One of its [the ANC's] strengths has been its ability for self reflection and its ability to be critical about itself," she said.

A key area of focus for the organisation to reverse the "negative tendencies" which had emerged in recent years would be to restore discipline in the party's ranks.

The ANC's organisational renewal document, to be discussed at the September national general council reads: "... Lack of discipline and blatant ill-discipline is becoming a distinct feature of the current situation.

"Inconsistency of application of rules and reluctance to act against ill-disciplined elements is rife."

Decisive action was to be taken for ill-discipline, including expulsion of members who disrupted meetings and resorted to violence to deal with party matters, dismissal for members found guilty of manipulating internal processes, dismissal of members found guilty of corruption or abuse of power and dismissal of those who caused divisions and factionalism.

The party was also considering establishing an "integrity committee" at national, provincial and regional level to protect the "image and integrity of the movement and its leadership", Mbalula said.

It would probe possible "conflicts of interest" of members with positions in both the state and the party.

If necessary, its findings would be referred to a disciplinary committee.

"This will protect ANC leaders from false accusations and malicious allegations of corruption and abuse of power," Mbalula said.

Earlier this year, ANC Gauteng leaders cemented a decision taken at its 11th conference to put in place such a structure.

The proposal for the committee was being discussed within ANC structures and the process would be taken further at the September talks.