President Cyril Ramaphosa has accused suspended African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Ace Magashule of not giving clear reasons for his "unlawful" and "purported suspension" and for basing it on an "ill-informed distortion of the truth".

Ramaphosa also repeated that no structure of the ANC has suggested any criminal conduct related to his campaign to be elected ANC president in 2017.

In his answering affidavit, signed and sworn on Wednesday, to Magashule's court application to have his own suspension overturned and Ramaphosa's "suspension" confirmed, Ramaphosa said the secretary-general could only suspend a member "if satisfied that his or her temporarily [sic] suspension would be in the best interest of the ANC".

He said Magashule "cannot conceivably contend that he was so satisfied in this case".

He said, "The circumstances and manner of his suspension of me make it quite clear that the applicant acted out of vengeful spite against the decision of the NWC [national working committee] that he be suspended together with all those members who had been charged with corruption and other serious offences but had failed to step aside."

Ramaphosa, in his papers, said the 2017 campaign wasn't for his election alone, but for a "leadership core that would make up the national executive committee that would lead the renewal process of the ANC".

He said: "I was part of that leadership core as the candidate for the president of the ANC."

Ramaphosa also said: "As far as I know, there is no structure of the ANC that has ever seriously suggested that I was guilty of any criminal conduct in relation to the CR17 campaign."

The reasons why the matter ended up before the courts was "only because the Public Protector [Busisiwe Mkhwebane] unlawfully investigated the CR17 campaign".

Ramaphosa attached his submissions to Mkhwebane to his affidavit, saying "they make clear, it was an entirely innocent campaign and did not involve any criminal conduct whatsoever."

A court set aside Mkhwebane's investigation and a judgment on her appeal was pending before the Constitutional Court, Ramaphosa said.

He also outlined the steps he took when there were suggestions of wrongdoing from his side by, among other things, subjecting himself to the ANC's integrity commission.

"The Commission was more focused on the question whether candidates for election to leadership positions within the ANC should be allowed to raise and use money in support of their election campaigns," Ramaphosa said.

He said he argued that "election campaigns [in the ANC] had become a reality" and should be regulated and "underpinned by transparency and accountability" rather than be prohibited.

Ramaphosa said there was an ongoing debate on this within the ANC.

He said, “Importantly, however, nobody suggested that the CR17 campaign broke any laws or rules of the ANC. The debate is confined to the question whether, in future, campaigns of this kind ought to be allowed and regulated.”

Ramaphosa continued by saying neither the national working committee nor the national executive committee of the ANC suggested that it was necessary to take any steps against him at any of their subsequent meetings where the party's rule on leaders stepping aside was discussed.

He said Magashule, in the letter he wrote to suspend him, made a false claim that the NWC at its meeting on 3 May decided that a letter should be written to "all affected members, including yourself [Ramaphosa], to inform them that it has decided that their temporary suspension would be in the best interests of the organisation".

Ramaphosa said the meeting affirmed an NEC decision, taken at its meeting from 26 to 29 March, that "all members who have been charged with corruption or other serious crimes" must step aside.

Ramaphosa said Magashule ought to have known this because they were both at the meeting.

He also said Magashule's attempt to suspend him was clearly unlawful because the ANC's Rule 25.70, on which Magashule based Ramaphosa's "suspension", only applied to members who have "been indicted to appear in a court of law on any charge" and also needed the authority of a structure in the ANC such as the NEC or NWC at national level.

Ramaphosa also said the NEC dismissed Magashule's attempt to suspend him and ordered him to apologise.

Magashule's response to this "made it clear that he had been acting out of vindictive spite and not the best interests of the ANC", Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa's court papers are supported by a number of confirmatory affidavits from staff members as well as people who were involved in his campaign, including special advisor Benjani Chauke, special advisor Donne Leigh Nicol, businessman James Motlatsi, academic Crispian Olver, Sigma Capital director Sifiso Dabengwa, and Monitoring and Evaluation Manager in the office of the Presidency, Marion Sparg.

ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte has already filed her affidavit responding to Magashule's court application.

It is expected that the case will be heard next week.