Some opposition parties have already rejected the move, threatening to take the legal route to challenge the IEC.

Accountability Now’s Paul Hoffman Hoffman said the former leader was already approaching the first term of his 15-month jail sentence – which automatically qualifies him for parole.

Most of her career was spent in the Inkatha Freedom Party where she served as a councillor, member of Parliament and even party chair but left due to leadership squabbles to form the NFP in 2011.

Zille insisted she was merely speculating when she tweeted that information leaked was nothing short of a constitutional crisis.

In a short statement released on Wednesday morning, it insisted that as the largest party in the country, it had the responsibility to protect, strengthen and deepen South Africa’s democracy.

The 58-year-old died in his sleep at his Joburg home on Tuesday.

The African National Congress (ANC) failed to register all its candidates last week Monday.

The MKMVA’s rise to prominence was largely linked to former President Jacob Zuma’s dominance and Maphatsoe was an avid supporter of Zuma until his final days.

This after it failed to meet last week’s deadline for the submissions of its candidates to contest the upcoming local government polls across some of its key municipalities.

Khusela Diko was implicated in a multi-million-rand personal protective equipment (PPE) tender saga involving her late husband, Chief Madzikane Diko.

On Monday, two suspects, one in KZN and another in Gauteng, made their court appearances after being arrested over the weekend.

The IEC is refusing to comment on the ANC’s bid, opting to wait for the governing party’s legal papers in order to understand what aspect of the process is being challenged.

Political parties, like the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), are preparing for the polls – in spite of the IEC's application to the Constitutional Court for the municipal elections to be postponed in light of COVID-19.

This with its own staff component currently on a The party has until Monday to submit its candidate list to the Independent Electoral Commission, which has pushed on with local government election preparation despite the Constitutional Court application to postpone the polls. slow over salary non-payments.

Zuma is due to face trial alongside French arms company Thales on charges including corruption related to the multibillion-rand arms deal dating back to the 1990s.

This is according to sources, following a meeting between Duarte and Mokgoro while she also met with ANC officials from the province.

The deadline for parties to submit candidate lists to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is on Monday.

ANC Limpopo secretary, Soviet Lekganyane, maintains that the province merely waited to get clarity on the party’s step aside resolution.