South Africa's former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota said today the ruling ANC was close to a split but stopped short of announcing a breakaway party.
"It seems that we are serving today divorce papers," Mr Lekota said at a news conference in Johannesburg after complaining at length about what he called undemocratic tendencies in the African National Congress, which he said had betrayed its own principles.
The former minister repeatedly denied that he and other loyalists of ousted president Thabo Mbeki would form a new party, but said: "This is probably the parting of the ways, it probably is."
"We hope that sense may still prevail in us... If not there's no going back," he said.
Flanked by another ANC dissident, former deputy defence minister Mluleki George, he added: "Logically it seems that this is the end of it."
ANC spokeswoman Jessie Duarte later brushed off suggestions the party was about to split and said it would not be deterred from its policies. She said Mr Lekota’s statements were "clearly a machination".
It was not clear how much support Mr Lekota had although he said hundreds of local supporters had resigned and regional and provincial ANC branches were contemplating leaving.
He called for a special congress of all those opposed to the the ANC's current direction within four weeks to discuss the way forward and how to restore democracy both inside the dominant party and in South Africa. He said he had not spoken to opposition parties.
Most analysts played down the impact of any breakaway party unless it was joined by ANC heavyweights including Mr Mbeki. They said the party leadership might welcome the departure of dissidents like Mr Lekota to restore unity.
Mr Mbeki was forced out last month and replaced by Kgalema Motlanthe after a judge accused the former president of meddling in a graft case against his rival, ANC leader Jacob Zuma.