The ANC scrapped the Scorpions because the unit threatened the party's "circle of closed, crony, politics", Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Tuesday.

She told a public meeting in Umhlanga outside Durban that the dissolution of the Scorpions ? the crime fighting unit of the National Prosecutions Authority ? was a logical outcome of African National Congress politics.

"The ANC destroyed the Scorpions because they threatened to break the circle of closed, crony, politics... in which the higher law of the party means independent institutions must be undermined or taken over if they thwart the abuse of power by the ANC's ruling clique."

Zille said the ANC demonstrations in support of leaders facing criminal charges was a reflection of how it put these individuals above the law and the Constitution.

She cited rallies and other actions being planned by the party in support of ANC president Jacob Zuma with his appearance on corruption and other charged in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Wednesday.

"The ANC is turning Jacob Zuma's court appearance into an election rally... After all, it was Zuma who said the ANC is more important than the Constitution," Zille added.

"For the ANC, corruption and power abuse have become a routine to revel in and a practice to praise."

Zille said the DA would re-instate the Scorpions if elected into government.

It would also beef up the budgets of the Independent Complaints Directorate, the Special Investigating Unit, and the Assert Forfeiture Unit.

"We take a zero-tolerance approach to corruption... It is time to get tough on corruption and to stop celebrating the corrupt," Zille said.