S.Africa's ANC youth blast Tutu

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - South Africa's ruling ANC youth wing hit out at former archbishop Desmond Tutu on Monday, after the Nobel Prize winner said he would not vote for the party at the next elections.

The ANC Youth League said Tutu must make remarks "anchored by reality and facts" after he cited the challenges of persistent inequality as one reason he would not be voting for the party.

"Any utterances that he makes, particularly on so emotive a subject, must be factual and represent the reality of South Africa," the ANC Youth League said reply.

"(Young people) expect the Archbishop and other leaders to speak truth anchored by reality and facts and not anecdotal information based on creativity and imagination."

Tutu is widely regarded as the voice of South Africa's moral conscience.

Under apartheid, Tutu campaigned against white minority rule and was awarded the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize.

In a recent newspaper article the 81-year-old said he had voted for the ANC in the past polls since the advent of democracy in 1994.

But in recent years the cleric has been increasingly critical of the ruling party.

In 2011 he accused the ANC government of kowtowing to trade partner China when it delayed a tourist visa for Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama.

South Africa will hold its fifth general elections in 2014.