Johannesburg — AFRICAN National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma yesterday called for calm in SA's political crisis.

Refusing to be drawn on who would be part of the new cabinet under Kgalema Motlanthe's leadership, Zuma said there was no need for panic.

He told journalists at the annual King Shaka Day celebrations held in Kwa-Dukuza (formerly Stanger) that SA would have to wait until "parliamentary and ANC processes" had taken their course.

"After necessary processes, the president will announce who will be the deputy president and also replacements of the ministers who resigned." He appealed for calm, saying: "Everything is under control. There must be no panic. There is a tendency among people who analyse to exaggerate . There is absolutely no constitutional crisis. Their analysis would be correct if things were not done under the law and if people were forced to leave."

King Goodwill Zwelithini, Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sbu Ndebele, finance MEC Zweli Mkhize and numerous traditional leaders also attended. Buthelezi was one of the political leaders to criticise the ANC's removal of President Thabo Mbeki.

On Tuesday, a deluge of opposition criticism of Zuma's leadership of the ANC greeted ruling party MPs when the National Assembly convened after the news of the mass resignations from Mbeki's cabinet.

Leader after leader used the time for members' statements to say that the divisions in the ANC were deeper than realised and that a process of political realignment had begun.

Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Sandra Botha said: "News of the resignation of cabinet ministers tells us that SA is now on an irrevocable path of political realignment.

"ANC president Jacob Zuma and the ANC's soon-to-be-nominated presidential candidate, Kgalema Motlanthe, now need to move with speed to assure the people of SA and the markets that there will be policy continuity in the affected ministries, and that there will be competent people to run them -- especially with respect to the pivotal finance ministry."

African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe said his party was concerned about the resignations, which were "the direct result of the purging of members of the Mbeki camp". "We were hoping for a smooth transition to the new transition and it is clear that this is not going to happen," Meshoe said. He appealed to all to remain calm.

Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille said she was shocked to hear about the resignations.

"It is clear that the ANC is now at war with itself. The once-proud liberation movement has now definitely lost its way," she said, accusing the Zuma camp of failing to plan ahead to prevent political and economic instability. She called for Mbeki to dissolve Parliament and call an early election.

Sports Minister Makenkhesi Stofile replied for the government, saying that difficult times demonstrated the true calibre of people. It was neither the first nor the last time "the leaders of this mighty organisation" had faced challenges of this nature.

With Sapa