ANC secretary general Ace Magashule on Tuesday admitted to meeting former president Jacob Zuma at a Durban hotel last week but denied the meeting was to discuss how to remove President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In an interview with eNCA‚ Magashule also admitted to meeting former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo and former SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni at the Beverly Hills hotel in Umhlanga Rocks a day before the meeting with Zuma.
Magashule said he had met with the former president to discuss "organisational issues" and that Mahumapelo had a separate meeting with Zuma.
He said he briefed national ANC officials on the outcome of the meeting afterwards‚ but they were not made aware he intended to meet the former president at the outset.
The Sunday Times revealed that Magashule and other top leaders - including ANCWL secretary-general Meokgo Matuba and ANCYL KZN secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo - met at the Maharani hotel on Thursday last week.
The meeting is believed to have discussed a fightback strategy that involves court action to challenge the outcome of last year's ANC national conference‚ which elected Ramaphosa as party president.