President Jacob Zuma has criticised the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) for bringing the country's Parliament into disrepute.

Zuma took a jibe at the EFF while addressing an African National Congress (ANC) rally in Nquthu on Sunday, ahead of the municipal by-election on Wednesday.

"There are people, whose names I forget, who were voted into power for reasons I don't know. They've sworn that they'll prevent the Cabinet from discussing government programmes and bringing new laws into the Constitution," Zuma said.

He said he usually advised those in "smaller parties" that it's never nice to be in a party that always loses.

"If you have reasons to stay in those parties, knowing well they won’t win, keep quiet and secretly vote for the ANC," he said adding that those parties will never govern.

He asked residents not to vote for "those who talk too much” and "blatant liars".

"But vote for the party that will bring change and deliver services in Nquthu," said Zuma.

He said if people voted for the ANC, there would be peace and unity in the municipality.

"If there's no peace, it becomes hard to deliver services," he said.

He said the ANC was the only party that would eradicate poverty, inequality and unemployment in the country.

"Whoever joins the ANC is blessed. Even the angels smile when they look at you," Zuma claimed.

‘Fight for land continues’

Zuma said the ANC would continue its fight for land.

"People were removed from fertile land to stoney areas they cannot even use for farming," he said.

We will never stop campaigning to get our land back, he said.

Zuma said the country was not free enough because South Africa has not achieved economic freedom.

"The economy must be designed in such a way that we benefit from our country's economy. The economy must not only go overseas, leaving us poor," Zuma said.

The ANC’s KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Sihle Zikalala said it was about time the ANC National Executive Committee allowed them to speak about Zuma's successor as ANC president.

"The leadership issue must be discussed in a usual way. We would not first ask where a candidate comes from," said Zikalala

He said when they elected the late Nelson Mandela to be the ANC's president they did not take into consideration that Oliver Tambo was from the same province as Mandela.

He said the same thing happened when Mbeki was chosen.

‘Women can lead’

The ANC in KZN has publicly announced that they want former African Union chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to be the next president.

Zikalala also criticised those who don't believe that women have leadership qualities.

"Those who want to tell us that women don't have qualities to lead, we would like to tell you that when we joined the struggle at a young age, there were women leaders. When we joined, there were women leading the UDF, uMkhonto weSizwe and underground structures," he said.

There are older men who were not in uMkhonto weSizwe and Robben Island, "who only surfaced in 1990".

"We would elect those who had been dedicated to the liberation struggle," said Zikalala.

The by-election in the Nquthu municipality follows its disbandment by the KZN government in February after it failed to elect its leaders, including the mayor and speaker, since the August 3 local government election.

EFF commander in chief Julius Malema and Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi were also in Nquthu on Sunday to campaign for their parties.