It is "unacceptable" for anyone speaking on behalf of the ANC to swear to get a point across, ANC chairman Baleka Mbete said.

She was responding to questions about ANC Youth League spokesman Floyd Shivambu, who reportedly said "f**k you" to a journalist who called him about a story.

"I totally disagree with any bad language being used by anybody who is communicating on behalf of any part of the ANC," Baleka said at a media briefing at Luthuli House, Johannesburg.

"I think that's regrettable, it's not language to be used ... I'm saying anybody expressing themselves in a way that's swearing at anybody, it is unacceptable."

"You can make your point using decent language," said Mbete.

Eyewitness News Online yesterday reported that Media 24 journalist Jacques Dommisse called Shivambu to speak to the league's president, Julius Malema, about a supposedly lavish three-day safari he undertook before the league's elective conference.

The report said the conversation "turned ugly".

"I said f**k you," said Shivambu, according to Eyewitness News.

Dommisse then asked if he was swearing at him, Shivambu replied "yes".

The National Press Club condemned Shivambu's comments, saying his behaviour was "totally unacceptable and completely out of line".