Speaking at the ANC's Free State provincial elective conference, Zuma said it was inconceivable for senior party members to claim they did not understand the document.

He said the paper was discussed three times by the ANC national executive committee.

The document has in the past few weeks come under attack from some leaders in the tripartite alliance.

Last week, Zuma's deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe, was among those who questioned it.

In his address yesterday, Zuma called on party members to discuss the document when they gather in Midrand this week.

At the same meeting, Zuma lambasted the ANC Youth League, saying its members conducted themselves as if they were a lost generation and that their behaviour was not acceptable.

His comments followed a boycott of the ANC provincial conference by the Free State youth league at the weekend, claiming the conference was illegitimate.

Zuma said there were vast differences between the league of today and the league of the past, which did not organise meetings or insult party leaders.

Zuma said the youth league of today needed to know what its role was and that its current leaders could not create new roles for it.

"[The youth of the 1950s] never attempted to shape the ANC outside there ... in slogans and in meetings that you cannot describe," he said.

Zuma was referring to a rally on Saturday organised by the "young lions" in Bethlehem.

"I'm not certain whether the youth of today is anything that inspires. I'm not certain the things some of our youth are doing inspire at all."

Zuma said each generation of the young carved out its own niche, adding that the youth of today had a critical duty to defend the democratic gains of the struggle.

In an indirect attack on axed youth league president Julius Malema, Zuma said: "The ANC must discipline everyone equally. Those who think they can bend around the constitution for their own selfish ends must be dealt with."

Zuma said the Free State conference had been convened constitutionally and criticised those who differed, saying they had conducted themselves in an "un-ANC" way.

He said the provincial ANC leadership had been meticulous in dealing with complaints by individuals and branches to the extent of postponing the conference three times.

Zuma has the backing of re-elected ANC provincial chairman Ace Magashule in his bid for re-election as ANC president in Mangaung in December.