South Africa political killings rise before local polls

Suspected political killings in South Africa have risen ahead of local elections on November 4, with at least 43 people killed in 45 suspected political attacks in the first nine months of the year, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime.

The independent civil society group said the tally was higher than the full-year total of 30 in 2021, the year of the previous municipal elections, and 33 in 2024, when the last national election was held.

Among those killed was Khethelo Mdluli, a 40-year-old Inkatha Freedom Party ward council candidate who was shot outside his rural home and died in hospital at the end of August. His family told AFP they did not know why he was targeted.

The next day, another IFP ward council candidate, 34-year-old Lucky Sokhela, was gunned down after arriving home in KwaZulu-Natal, the same province.

Police said four members of the African National Congress youth division were killed on Tuesday outside Johannesburg after a gunman opened fire on them. Police said the motive was unknown and the attacker had turned himself in.

The IFP called for the Political Killings Task Team, established in 2018, to investigate. "The killing of political candidates cannot be treated as ordinary criminality," the party said.

GI-TOC said 16 of the suspected attacks recorded to the end of September were in KwaZulu-Natal and 10 were in Gauteng, where Johannesburg is located. It said those killed included ward councillors, party officials and traditional leaders, with 13 victims from the ANC and eight from former president Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe Party.

Researchers and analysts cited competition for local power, jobs and access to resources as a factor behind the violence. South Africa's local elections are seen as a test of support for the ANC after it lost its national parliamentary majority in 2024.