The process of expropriating land without compensation should proceed without any blood being spilled, former president Jacob Zuma has said.

Zuma was speaking to hundreds of pensioners and African National Congress (ANC) supporters in KwaMashu, north of Durban.

He was part of a team campaigning for the ruling party in his home province, along with ANC KZN chairperson Sihle Zikalala.

The former president said no one should "resist" when their land is being expropriated.

"We are impoverished today and live in rocky areas because of the land issue. There was no compensation when our land was taken from us, so there should be no compensation when we take the land back," Zuma said in isiZulu.

Zuma added that, according to the country's Constitution, people should only claim for land that was taken from 1913.

"What about the land that was taken in the 1600s?" he asked.

"We can't start another war, no. We are free now. We have to get lots of votes. Let's get the two-thirds majority in order to change the Constitution. It's not nice that after 25 years we are not free when it comes to other aspects of the Constitution," he added.

Zuma asked people to vote for the ANC next year instead of other parties "with empty promises".

"The ANC fought for the country and some people died and some were arrested. We can't now vote for someone who never struggled. They'll show you. You will sleep with one eye open. The ANC is our organisation. Next year we will win the elections," he said.

Zuma urged those who did not like some ANC leaders to vote for the ANC and complain later.

"Anger is a disease to some people. When they don't like me, they'll say we won't vote for the ANC because Zuma leads it. We must love the ANC. We can't take the ANC out of power just because we don't like a certain leader or leaders.

"If we don't like someone, we will remove him at a conference. I must not make the ANC lose just because I don't like Zuma. Let's vote for the ANC first than discuss Zuma later," he said.

Zuma began his campaign trail at the Pinetown taxi rank on Friday morning.

His spokesperson Vukile Mathabela meanwhile told the media earlier on Friday that his legal team was still in the process of filing papers to the Pietermaritzburg High Court, in his application for a permanent stay of prosecution in his corruption trial.