Political assassinations and targeted hits are endemic to KwaZulu-Natal, creating fear and preventing capable leaders from entering politics, according to political observers and violence monitors in the province.
They made their point shortly after the provincial government concluded its crime summit on Saturday and police minister Bheki Cele released the quarterly crime statistics on Friday which showed that the province is still the country’s crime centre.
Since 2018 more than 20 councillors have been killed. Last week ANC ward councillor Mkhipheni Mzimuni Ngiba and three others were arrested for the murder of ANC leaders Siyabonga Mkhize and Mzukisi Nyanga. Both were gunned down in Cato Crest in Durban in October 2021. Ngiba was Mkhize’s successor and one of the chief mourners at his funeral.
Last Thursday a senior EFF councillor was shot dead in a drive-by shooting. Mxolisi Buthelezi was the chair of the EFF in the Umkhanyakude district municipality in northern Zululand. In January the IFP speaker of the AmaJuba district municipality, Reginald Bhekumndeni Ndima, was shot and killed outside his home. ANC councillor Thembinkosi Lombo from the Umvoti council was shot dead in February.
Violence monitor Mary de Haas says it is frustrating that her predictions of “targeted hits and assassinations” more than a decade ago have fallen on deaf ears. “I have written to the provincial government, national government and the security agencies, and there is not even an acknowledgment of my letters. We are at a stage where very few will brave standing for political office.”
In February, the investigations of the political killings task team, launched in 2018, revealed that the most affected political parties are the ANC, IFP and the National Freedom Party. The motives for these crimes are linked to intraparty political conflicts, with a few cases linked to motives such as taxi violence and domestic issues.
De Haas said crime summits like that held by the provincial government are “mere talk shops and a waste of money”.
“It will not stop the hit squads and hired guns from killing. There has to be a concerted effort made by the crime bosses to stop the long-standing proliferation of illegal firearms and ammunition in the region.
“We know about the guns for hire. We know about the taxi industry and its mafia that scare bus operators and are also used in other attacks. There is an urgent need to regulate the less established security companies that come and go and add to the growing murders.”
De Haas said the arrest of Ngiba was no surprise. “There were allegations and rumours of his alleged involvement in some of the murders for years now. He is known to have friends in the police.”
This province is broken ... The entry into politics has become a violent contestation aided by patronage and cadre deployment and not skills and the ability to deliver on service delivery.
— Political analyst Protas Mdlala
Political analyst Protas Madlala said being a politician or councillor in KwaZulu-Natal is becoming “more and more dangerous”.
“This province is broken and the interparty politics is ugly. Being elected into political office carries prestige and opportunities for access to resources through tenders and other financial avenues. It has resulted in corruption.
“The entry into politics has become a violent contestation aided by patronage and cadre deployment and not skills and the ability to deliver on service delivery. Going forward, it is important that the suspects are not killed during arrest so that the courts can hear more about who their handlers are. There is a worrying trend that by-elections in this province happen because of killings and murders.”
In February, while visiting KwaZulu-Natal to deal with the matter of political killings, Cele said that since its inception the task team for political killings had arrested 289 suspects. Of these, 72 remain in custody, 43 are out on bail, 13 had died, 10 were sentenced to life imprisonment and 22 received jail sentences ranging from 10 to 50 years.
“Twelve accused have been sentenced to no more than 10 years and the remainder are going through the court processes. In addition, 116 case dockets not related to the task team’s mandate but somehow linked to politically related cases, either with similar suspects and/or ballistic analysis, are being processed by the team for further investigation,” Cele said.
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