Only 14 members had quit the ANC in the Western Cape, not 14 000 as claimed by dissidents, the party said on Wednesday.

The 14 included Leonard Ramatlakane, Philip Dexter and Mbulelo Ncedana, ANC provincial secretary Sipho Kroma said.

"The burning of membership forms and old membership cards are in our view only photo opportunities with no relevance to reality or the true strength of their organisation," he said.

Ramatlakane, a former Western Cape safety MEC, claimed this week that 13 946 former ANC members had signed up for Terror Lekota's convention movement.

Over 5000 of them came from the Boland region, he said.

Sapa