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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma moved to end confusion on Monday about the control of economic policy after a push for influence by the ruling ANC's communists and union allies.

Labour federation COSATU wants Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, a former trade unionist, to be responsible for policy direction in a bid to drive Africa's biggest economy towards a leftist economic stance.

Patel has become more vocal on policy and a report -- immediately denied -- that he wanted to freeze the rand earlier this year unnerved investors.

But while Zuma has said he is open to debate, the government and central bank have signalled they are committed to a relatively conservative stance.

"Nobody is going to create a new policy, they have been created, they have been implemented," Zuma said in an interview with Talk Radio 702, adding that Patel was not responsible for setting economic policies.

Members of Patel's department must ensure that "they don't move in different directions. That's what we're saying," Zuma said. "We're not saying 'you originate policy'."

Zuma, under pressure to lift millions of South Africans out of poverty 15 years since the end of apartheid, said a lack of communication between the government's economic departments, such as the National Treasury and Trade and Industry Department, may have contributed to jobless economic growth.