‘Ballots and bullets’: Political killings surge ahead of South Africa’s local elections

The article describes a wave of killings involving people connected to political parties before local elections. Targets included candidates, party officials, traditional leaders and youth activists. Their deaths raised fears that bullets, rather than voters, could influence who gains local power.

Khethelo Mdluli, a 40-year-old IFP ward councillor candidate, was shot outside his rural home while with his young children. He died in hospital at the end of August. The next day, fellow IFP candidate Lucky Sokhela was gunned down after arriving home in KwaZulu-Natal. Four ANC youth members were later killed outside Johannesburg.

Some victims had reportedly received threats, but motives were not always known. The IFP referred the candidate killings to the Political Killings Task Team. GI-TOC recorded 43 deaths in 45 suspected political attacks during the first nine months of the year. The violence showed how fiercely local positions and resources were being contested.

A political assassination is the intentional killing of someone because of their political role, influence or activities. Its purpose may be to remove a rival, intimidate a party or control political decisions. That makes it different from an ordinary crime, where the alleged motive is not tied to political power or competition.

The article identifies a political pattern. Victims included ward councillors, party officials, traditional leaders and youth activists. Mdluli was an IFP candidate, while Sokhela was another IFP candidate. Four ANC youth members were also killed. Some attacks involved reported threats, but police said the motive in the Johannesburg shooting was unknown.

The word suspected matters because not every case had been proven politically motivated. GI-TOC counted 45 suspected political attacks, with 43 deaths, rather than confirmed assassinations. The IFP sent cases to the Political Killings Task Team because it argued that candidate killings could not be treated as ordinary criminality.

The scale of violence was unusually high. GI-TOC recorded 45 suspected political attacks and 43 deaths during the first nine months of the year. These incidents involved candidates, party officials, traditional leaders and other politically connected people. The figures show that election-related violence was not limited to election day.

The 43 deaths already exceeded the full-year total of 30 recorded in 2021, the year of the previous municipal elections. They also surpassed the 33 deaths recorded in 2024, when South Africa held its last national election. This comparison makes the current surge especially striking because those earlier figures covered entire years.

KwaZulu-Natal recorded the most attacks, with 16, while Gauteng recorded 10. The victims came from several political movements. Thirteen were from the ANC and eight from the MKP. The numbers point to a serious national problem, concentrated most heavily in KwaZulu-Natal.

A ward councillor is a locally elected political representative for a ward. The article links the role to decisions over important community resources. Councillors and other local figures can influence issues such as housing allocations, contracts and access to jobs and services.

That influence gives the post value beyond its salary. A councillor earns more than 25,000 rand a month before allowances, while the minimum wage is nearly 6,000 rand. In a country with an official unemployment rate of 33 percent, the position can appear to offer a route out of poverty. This helps explain the intense competition.

The article does not suggest that every councillor controls resources alone. It shows that local political office provides access to power and public money, which criminal networks may try to capture. Analyst Zakhele Ndlovu said some people were prepared to “kill or be killed” to pursue the position. That turns elections into dangerous contests.

KwaZulu-Natal is especially vulnerable because political violence and criminal networks already have deep roots there. Researcher Crispin Hemson documented the province’s bloody political wars during the final years of apartheid. He said the networks and guns used for killing were already in place when the older ideological conflict faded.

The mechanism changed rather than disappeared. Hemson said the focus moved from ideological divides to access to resources. A tender, ward or job can bring money and influence. The article also describes a case in which a traditional chief allegedly ordered the killing of a councillor over disputed land sales and electricity connections. Local authority therefore becomes a target.

GI-TOC recorded 16 attacks in KwaZulu-Natal, more than any other province, and 10 in Gauteng. Researchers described an intersection between politics and organised crime. Unless local competition is protected by effective investigations and fair elections, existing criminal networks can keep turning political disputes into violence.

Political killings weaken democracy by attacking the basic idea that citizens should choose leaders safely. Fear can silence candidates, families and voters. When people believe speaking, campaigning or standing for office may bring violence, elections no longer offer a genuinely open contest.

The article gives direct examples. A relative of Lucky Sokhela said, “We are scared,” while the IFP called for the ballot, not the bullet, to decide. Killing a candidate can remove a political choice before voters reach the polling station. It can also make parties spend energy protecting members and investigating threats instead of campaigning.

The wider effect reaches the state itself. GI-TOC described an intersection between politics and organised crime that damages South Africa’s constitutional democracy. The recorded deaths, including 13 ANC members and eight MKP members, show that several movements are affected. If violence continues, public trust and the legitimacy of elected local government may decline.

Local elections are meant to give residents a peaceful way to choose representatives for their wards. Those representatives help shape decisions about local resources, including houses, contracts, jobs and services. Voting gives citizens a voice in who receives that authority and creates a public basis for holding leaders responsible.

The article contrasts this process with political violence. Candidates such as Mdluli and Sokhela were killed while seeking ward positions. Researchers said local politics increasingly involved competition for tenders, jobs and access to power. If guns remove candidates or intimidate communities, criminal networks can influence the result without winning public support.

The democratic safeguard is the election itself: competing parties present candidates, citizens vote, and the outcome determines local leadership. The IFP urged that “the ballot, not the bullet” should decide. Protecting candidates, investigating attacks and allowing voters to participate freely are therefore essential to preserving constitutional democracy.