"Not in my name."

That is the response from African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Ace Magashule to calls from the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in the Free State to burn copies of a book containing damning allegations against him.

Announcing the planned burning at the Mangaung dumping site, provincial ANCYL spokesperson Sello Pietersen said: "We therefore urge society to bring along as many copies of this puke as possible, as well as any material that reflects the barbaric past, such as the old apartheid flag, along to our fireplace".

On Wednesday, Magashule called on South Africans to adhere to the core values of the movement, "of engaging in the battle of ideas".

Magashule issued a statement in response to the disruption of the launch of Pieter-Louis Myburgh's book, Gangster State: Unravelling Ace Magashule's Web of Capture, at Exclusive Books in Sandton on Tuesday evening, as well as calls for the book to be burnt. 

Magashule said: "The Constitution and laws of the country allow for channels to follow when we disagree with information and ideas, whether in books or the media. I have indicated to my organisation that I am pursuing legal action against the false allegations made in the book.

"In addition, where we disagree with views expressed in books, the media and other platforms, we must use peaceful and constitutional means to engage those who peddle lies and fake news.

"Those purporting to be ANC members and supporter disrupting book launches, burn books and intimidate authors and journalists in my name or to be revolutionary should desist, because these are actions of political intolerance, and against freedom of expression for all South Africans (sic)," Magashule said.

The ANC on Tuesday condemned the provincial ANCYL's planned book burning, saying it undermined freedom of expression, including the freedom of the media.

The book reveals how Magashule stood at the "head of a well-organised State-capture network" in the Free State for almost a decade.

This network scooped millions of rands of taxpayers' money in schemes seemingly presided over by Magashule and has allegedly seen people like former president Jacob Zuma, the Gupta family, some of the Magashule children, the former provincial premier himself and a host of connected ANC politicians benefit from various government schemes.

A group of protesters, some wearing ANC T-shirts, disrupted the book launch. They apparently ripped apart some copies of the book and threw the pages around, News24 reported.

Acting ANC spokesperson Dakota Legoete on Wednesday said the party would act against members who disrupted the book launch.