A report on Thursday said that "a deal has been proposed that former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa should lead a transitional government that will be constituted of stakeholders from other political parties" in Zimbabwe.

According to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), President Robert Mugabe had been given an opportunity to negotiate an exit that included state protection together with his family.

"One of the priorities of the transitional government will be to restore the economy that has experienced decline in recent times," the report said.

Meanwhile, NewsDay reported that the country's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai and war veterans leader Christopher Mutsvangwa had flown back home from South Africa on Wednesday.

Both Tsvangirai and Mutsvangwa were "ready to enter negotiations to form a transitional government with former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa", the report said.

'Criminals around Mugabe'

Tsvangirai and Mutsvangwa had both been in South Africa on different missions, the report said.

The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) on Wednesday announced that it had taken over the country and was keeping the country's president Mugabe and his family under guard at his home as the military was getting rid of the "criminals around Mugabe".

On Monday the ZDF warned the 93-year-old leader that it would intervene if he continued purging party veterans in a bid to see his wife, Grace Mugabe, become his successor.

The takeover, which has largely been described as a coup, also saw the arrest of several ministers and members of the so-called "Generation 40" group within the ruling party.

According to a report by SABC, “a deal has been proposed that former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa should lead a transitional government that will be constituted of stakeholders from other political parties”.