FREE State premier and ANC provincial chairman Ace Magashule has expressed "100% satisfaction" with President Jacob Zuma's performance and warned those calling for leadership change and generational mix to wait their turn.

In an interview with the Sunday Times Magashule said those who wanted change at the ANC's Mangaung conference in December were "too ambitious" and have to be stopped.

"I am 53 . my generation and the one after us must wait. People must be patient, we still need to learn from the older leadership. Our generation and the one after us can easily be swayed through money. people are too ambitious. We need to put brakes on people with too much ambition," he said.

Magashule - who would not openly voice his support for Zuma - praised the president for his good leadership.

"I'm 100% satisfied with Zuma's performance. He is performing very well. He is very simple and humble. He is a man of the people. You can approach him and an ordinary person can approach him," he said of the man who appointed him to be a premier in 2009, after being overlooked by previous ANC leaderships.

Magashule's comments could mean that he would not back the ANC youth league's campaign to remove Zuma and secretary-general Gwede Mantashe. The league wants Police Minister Fikile Mbalula to replace Mantashe, and deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe to take over from Zuma.

Magashule is facing a challenge in his province, with a grouping linked to the leadership of the ANC Youth League leading a campaign to have him replaced by the current ANC provincial secretary Sibongile Besani. But he said he is not fazed by machinations to oust him.

However, sources in the province said Besani's campaign had lost momentum as he appears to be reluctant to accept nomination.

Magashule is the longest-serving ANC provincial chairman, having occupied the position since 1994. He said there was nothing unusual about his long stay at the helm of the party in the province as the re-election of leaders was a norm in the ANC.

"I'm not putting myself there, I have always been elected. The ANC believes in elections. Oliver Tambo was president of the ANC for many years. Dr [Zacharias] Mahabane, Thabo Mbeki - we re-elected them. I've always been contested. It's not like I'm chosen through a consensus - where there is gentlemen's agreement.

"I'm very comfortable, very confident and relaxed. There is no problem, life continues," he said.

Magashule also supported the ANC decision to discipline youth league leader Julius Malema and ruled out supporting any political solution to his problems. "Once ANC processes have been exhausted there is nothing we can do.. It's unfortunate to lose a leader like Malema because he had a very bright future. We always used to work together. He is a dynamic chap. It's just unfortunate that in history things happen. We need to move on. It's not the end of the world. Moving forward, let's behave in a particular way. The ANC accepts everybody. People come and go. The next time they come back they apologise and the organisation moves on."

Insiders said the league had approached Magashule to contest the national chairman position - a position currently held by former deputy president Baleka Mbete. However, he is said to have turned them down.

This week he told the Sunday Times he has no ambitions to succeed Mbete. "I still have full confidence in our national officials. I have full confidence in Baleka Mbete because we elected her at Polokwane. For as long as they are elected leaders we are fully behind them. I have no ambitions to be national chairman, not at all," he said.

While the Limpopo government is complaining about the national government's intervention in that province, Magashule expressed his excitement about the assistance offered by national government in his province. "The intervention has not run its time. We wouldn't mind if it stays with us for a longer period because that's what we need."