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Former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema has asked forgiveness for his role in supporting President Jacob Zuma to become leader of the ruling party.
Speaking at a Peter Mokaba memorial rally outside Rustenburg on Tuesday night, Malema said there was still time to correct the mistake.
"We were part of misleading you and we are sorry. But, because we are still alive we can correct that mistake before we pass on. That mistake must never be repeated," he said.
Malema said that if Zuma was reelected as party leader at the ANC's elective conference in Mangaung in December, the ANC will be doomed to become an opposition party.
"We don't want to inherit the ANC which is an opposition because of the legacy of president Zuma. We must rescue it now. This ANC will be out of power if president Zuma continues to be president of the ANC in December."
In a wide-ranging speech in which he clearly targeted president Jacob Zuma, Malema also had a message for white South Africans saying that black people do not want to kill white people "despite the fact that you killed our people."
"We are not going to kill you. We know that you took this land through black genocide. You killed many Africans but we are not going to kill you, not because we are scared but because we love peace. The only thing you can do is to surrender what you took from them."
