Eastern Cape housing MEC Thobile Mhlahlo has denied rumours that he was part of senior provincial ANC members planning to start a new political party.

"Apartheid forces failed to push me out of the ANC. There is no reason for any individual who can attempt and even succeed in removing me from the ANC," Mhlahlo said in a statement on Thursday.

He said he had been in the ANC for 29 years and his credentials within the movement attest to his "unwavering loyalty".

"I am amazed that I am linked to this new organisation. I am a disciplined member of the organisation and that's where my loyalty is," Mhlahlo said.

Former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota on Wednesday said he might start a new political party because he believed the current ANC leadership was deviating from party principles.

He said there were "hundreds" of ANC members in the Eastern Cape who wanted to leave the ruling party.