President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday that corruption cases should be handled faster to avoid a situation where people are suspended on full pay for long periods.

"I'm of the view that the manner in which we deal with corruption may take too long," Zuma told the National Council of Provinces.

"We need to change the manner in which we deal with the problem, because if we don't then people might take the law into their own hands because they might be knowing the people."

He said though all allegations of corruption must be tested, he was concerned that "people are suspended for a long time without the issue being handled because at times it is very difficult to handle".

Zuma said corruption had frequently been cited as a cause of service delivery protests.

As a democrat he firmly believed people had the right to protest "because they should be free to express themselves", but warned he would not tolerate violence.