ANC youth league deputy president Ronald Lamola's comments about President Jacob Zuma were disrespectful, the African National Congress said on Friday.

In a speech on Thursday, Lamola reportedly accused Zuma of prioritising his own village, Nkandla, for development.

Every South African knew this accusation was not true, said the ANC.

"In his haste to vilify and denigrate President Zuma, Lamola conveniently forgets that the ANC in Polokwane adopted a policy on rural development and land reform," the party said.

To further this policy, a rural and land reform ministry was established in 2009, and had been championing rural development.

Towns in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Northern and Eastern capes had all been targeted for development.

"It is therefore not only disingenuous for Lamola to accuse the president of prioritising Nkandla for development, but also an insult in the extreme."

His comments showed malice, the ANC said.

"We would like to advise and caution the leadership of the ANCYL to guard against slipping into trenches of those that are hostile and oppositional to the ANC by attacking its leadership with impunity," the ANC said.

Lamola told students that the Constitution should be amended to allow land expropriation without compensation.

"We need to break the apartheid economy we received in 1994. White people are still living a Hollywood lifestyle... while the majority are still living a third world lifestyle."

Most black South Africans were relying on social grants to survive, he said.