African National Congress (ANC) leaders are welcome to speak out against ills plaguing the party, ANC treasurer general Zweli Mkhize says.

"When we raise issues we are doing two things: We want our branches, members and supporters to know that we are aware, and we are encouraging them to speak out," he told News24 during an interview.

He discussed his role in the party and the problems it had been grappling with ahead of its 54th national elective conference.

The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) had criticised Mkhize, deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and former finance minister Pravin Gordhan for using party rallies and memorial services to decry vote buying ahead of the ANC's elective conference in December.

"People must stop saying negative things about the organisation on public platforms and that creates a perception that becomes true," ANCYL secretary general Njabulo Nzuza told News24 recently.

"Comrade Cyril comes again, utters the very same statements which are not substantiated; we raise our concerns about it."

They had to protect the ANC's dignity and image and could not have senior party leaders saying there was corruption in the party while they had not reported it.

Resolving ANC KZN conflict

Mkhize said by speaking out they wanted to encourage branch members to report wrongdoing in the party.

"When we stand up and say we don't want to see people purchasing branches; we don't want to see irregularities, people are going to cheer and say it's happening here, it's happening here.

"Because we talk about it they know the leadership is open to investigating those kinds of things."

He believed the party could emerge from the conference with a unified leadership.

"It is also possible that with more engagements people would be able to look at this and look at the ANC and put the ANC first, above everything else, and therefore resolve the problems," he said.

A cloud continues to hang over the ANC's KwaZulu-Natal conference in 2015, at which Sihle Zikalala beat former premier Senzo Mchunu to become the province's chairperson.

Several court cases were brought in a bid to have the conference outcomes nullified, following claims that voting was rigged.

Mkhize said the tensions were caused by "political issues" that could best be resolved through talks.

"I think it's been a difficult matter and we really hope that comrades can find each other and find a political way to resolve those issues, so that there doesn't have to be a court ruling."

Both sides had to submit responding affidavits by Monday.

Mkhize said the ANC's national office had met the different parties involved. He was not sure if the ongoing talks were proving to be effective.