ANC former chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota urged South Africans to join the campaign to defend the Constitution against attacks by new ruling party leaders.

Addressing thousands of disgruntled African National Congress members in Langa in Cape Town, Lekota cited a number of statements by certain ANC leaders as evidence that the country's Constitution was in danger.

"The people shall govern principle is no longer for all of us — there are serious deviations. We must make sure that all South Africans join hands to defend the Constitution," he said.

Statements by certain ANC leaders calling for a solution to ANC president Jacob Zuma's legal problems as well as threats to kill if he did not become the country's president were a strong indicator that the Constitution was no longer safe.

"The time to defend our democracy is now," he said.

Lekota appealed to all South Africans who respect the Constitution to attend the upcoming national convention to decide on measures to counter the current onslaught on democratic principles.

Sapa