At least 43 people have been killed in suspected politically motivated attacks in South Africa this year as the country prepares for local government elections on November 4, according to a new report.
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) said it recorded 45 politically linked attacks between January and September 30, already exceeding the full-year total for every year since the organisation began monitoring such violence in 2015.
Political party officials, ward councillors, civic activists and traditional leaders were among those targeted.
Thirteen of the 43 people killed were members of the African National Congress (ANC), while eight belonged to the MK Party (MKP), led by former president Jacob Zuma, according to the GI-TOC report, titled “Bullets and Ballots.”
KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest number of attacks, followed by Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, where 10 incidents were reported. GI-TOC warned that the most dangerous period could still lie ahead as competition for political power intensifies in the weeks before voting.
South Africa’s Electoral Commission has confirmed that municipal elections will take place on November 4, with more than 136,000 candidates certified to contest seats across the country’s metropolitan, district and local municipalities.
The vote comes two years after the ANC lost its national parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994. The municipal elections are expected to provide a fresh measure of support for the country’s major political parties ahead of the next national elections in 2029.
