The African National Congress (ANC) has denied that President Cyril Ramaphosa and Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane will participate in a debate on SABC, 10 days before the elections.

This comes after Maimane on Tuesday seemingly confirmed a possible screening of the debate on the public broadcaster.

"The African National Congress refuses to be cajoled into a debate that never was between the ANC president, Comrade Cyril Ramaphosa, with the DA leader, Mmusi Maimane," the party said in a curt statement on Wednesday.

"We strongly dispute what is currently being touted by the SABC, that the organisation has confirmed or is even aware of a debate between its statesman and the DA's Mmusi Maimane."

On Tuesday, Maimane said he welcomed the opportunity to participate in a debate with the president and said it would provide an opportunity for transparency from Ramaphosa.

"Today I received a formal invite to participate in The Big Debate's official Presidential Debate to be held on 28 April 2019 and aired live on SABC 2 and various SABC radio stations.

"I welcome this initiative and look forward to going toe-to-toe with Cyril Ramaphosa to debate our respective plans to deal with our country's most pressing challenges."

However, broadcaster Redi Thlabi took to Twitter to say the other guests had not confirmed yet, and that it included Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema.