Zanu-PF’s Generation 40 (G40) faction has reportedly threatened to stage a demonstration demanding the firing of former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa from the ruling Zanu-PF party.

According to NewsDay, the demonstration was set to coincide with Zanu-PF's politburo meeting in Harare on Wednesday.

"The G40 group will stage a demonstration in Harare to push for the expulsion of Mnangagwa and his colleagues. The purges maybe at the same scale as we saw during the expulsion of (former vice-president) Joice Mujuru and her Gamatox faction (in 2014)," a Zanu PF source was quoted as saying.

President Robert Mugabe on Monday fired his deputy as tensions between Mnangagwa and the veteran leader's wife Grace to succeed him intensified.

Grace declared over the weekend that Mnangagwa should be gone from both the government and Zanu-PF before the party's extraordinary congress in December.

Mnangagwa was the leading contender to succeed Mugabe, 93, but his abrupt removal appeared to clear the way for Grace to take over.

NewsDay, however, quoted Harare provincial commissar Shadreck Mashayamombe as saying that Wednesday's gathering had nothing to do with "Mnangagwa's issues".

Mashayamombe reportedly said that the gathering was instead meant to show "support for the president".

"We want to thank him (Mugabe) and the First Lady for continuously discharging their duties diligently in both the party and government. It will have nothing to do with that one (Mnangagwa) who was fired," Mashayamombe was quoted as saying.