Supporting the African National Congress (ANC) is not guaranteed in next year's local elections, the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) has warned the ruling party, saying it intended giving its leaders an ultimatum.

Sadtu said it believed it was a matter of principle that the deputy president automatically succeeded the president. This was an endorsement for Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The union raised the matter during Cosatu's 12th National Congress and wants the federation to take a resolution on this.

"We are going to the 2016 local government elections and we’re saying there's no blank cheque for the support of the African National Congress... we need principles, we need stability, we need certainty, predictability and therefore these are the conditions we're putting [forward]," said Sadtu general secretary, Mugwena Maluleke, on the sidelines of the congress.

"We are going to make sure we fight on the floor of the congress to have a resolution."

He said the union believed this would stop factionalism in the ANC and that the party could not go into the local government elections with "unnecessary" contestation.

"We are going to have a stable ANC which will be able to deliver the services to our people. So we don't want to go into a local government election, vote and the next thing we are fighting about is who's a leader, who's not a leader and we have factions and people suffer. The people come first."

Maluleke said Sadtu would raise the matter on Thursday at the congress and push for a resolution.

News24.com