The Presidency has lashed out at the South African Communist Party over allegations it made on Tuesday that President Jacob Zuma was planning to fire his deputy‚ Cyril Ramaphosa‚ and replace him with Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

The SACP earlier demanded that Zuma confirm or deny the rumours‚ which it said were based on "emerging information".

It also claimed Zuma wanted to use a traditional Zulu royal regiment‚ the Amabhuto‚ to defend him and keep him in office.

But Zuma‚ through his spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga‚ described this as "preposterous and outrageous".

"The allegations are completely baseless‚" he said in a terse statement.