Johannesburg - South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma on Monday tipped ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe to become acting president after Thabo Mbeki tendered his resignation on Sunday.

"I am convinced, if given that responsibility, he would be equal to the task," Zuma told a press conference in Johannesburg, with Motlanthe at his side.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the ANC's top decision- making body pressured Mbeki into resignation at the weekend, Zuma said the party would only name its candidate for caretaker president "at an appropriate moment" in parliament, which elects the president.

On the party's decision to recall Mbeki, Zuma said: "This was the the most difficult decision the National Executive Committee has ever had to take in the history of the ANC" and stressed the party's commitment to a smooth transition of power.

He also assured the ANC "supports our government to make the World Cup (in 2010) a huge success for the continent and the whole world."

Zuma also paid tribute to Mbeki's dignified exit and referred to highlights of his legacy, including steady economic growth and Africa's heightened profile in the world.

If nominated president, Motlanthe's ratification by the ANC-dominated National Assembly is seen as a foregone conclusion.

Motlanthe, a former ANC secretary general and party moderate, who has acted as a bridge between the Mbeki and Zuma factions in the ANC, was recently appointed as minister in the presidency.

Motlanthe would only take over until elections slated for April, after which Zuma, as the party's candidate for president would lead the country, if as expected the ANC, wins.

Born 1949, the popular former union leader and anti-apartheid activist, who spent 10 years in prison on Robben Island, has often been tipped to take over from Zuma, in the event Zuma, who has been dogged by allegations of corruption, could not take office.

At the ANC leadership conference in December 2007, where he was named party number two, Motlanthe denied coveting the top job, saying he would rather coach South Africa's hapless Bafana Bafana football side or coach young ANC members in politics.

Mbeki resigned on Sunday a day after the ANC's National Executive Committee demanded that he step down, after a court had implied that Mbeki had a hand in the decision to prosecute Zuma for corruption.

The court threw out the charges against Zuma on a technicality. Mbeki has vigorously denied interfering in the case. (dpa)