Parliament has already started looking at possible replacements for MP Thoko Didiza, National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete said on Tuesday.

“There is about a minimum of three people who will be leaving us," she told reporters in Johannesburg.

They were already "interacting with the relevant structures" to fill these vacancies.

The African National Congress (ANC) announced Didiza as its mayoral candidate for Tshwane last Sunday. This sparked a week of protests, looting, and destruction of property in several parts of the metro, apparently by ANC members unhappy with the decision.

Five people were killed and scores arrested.