The fight for the soul of the ANC took an unprecedented turn on Thursday when former president Jacob Zuma announced a dubious private prosecution against his successor President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The announcement came on the eve of the ANC's 55th elective conference kicking off today in Nasrec, Johannesburg. It immediately raised suspicions that the move is another attempt to block Ramaphosa from retaining his position as party president.

Ramaphosa wasted no time and angrily reacted to Zuma's summons on Friday morning, labelling it "hopeless" and sub-standard".

"The summon served to the president is hopelessly sub-standard and demonstrates the absolute disregard of the law," said Ramaphosa in a statement.

Ramaphosa said that according to the Criminal Procedure Act, "A private prosecution can only be instituted after the individual prosecuting has obtained a certificate of non-prosecution".

Zuma has accused Ramaphosa of failing to act on state prosecutors Advocate Billy Downer and Andrew Breitenbach following his complaint of alleged improper conduct against the pair.

In October, Zuma summoned Downer -- a lead prosecutor he is haplessly trying to remove from his arms deal case -- and journalist Karyn Maughan to an ill-fated private prosecution.

In a statement, Zuma's foundation said Ramaphosa will appear at the Johannesburg High Court on 19 January 2023.

Ramaphosa said he does not interfere in the work of the National Prosecuting Authority.

Pulling no punches, Ramaphosa said: "The charges are completely spurious and unfounded."

He rejected what he termed Zuma's abuse of private prosecution "with the utmost contempt".

Ramaphosa and his allies, including the likes of outgoing ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe, are focusing on ensuring that he retains his position as ANC president.

If he wins, this will put him firmly in the seat of power of the 110-year-old party for another five years.

He took over in 2017 after defeating Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who was Zuma's preferred candidate.