Political killings in KZN could escalate, warns analyst
A political analyst has warned that politically motivated killings could escalate in KZN in the runup to the provincial and national elections.
Dr Imran Buccus says while the province has a history of political killings, he feels there's been a shift from inter to intra-party political contestation.
“This has got to go a lot with the politics of patronage and people jostling for positions, especially at the local government level and in the context of it being crunch time for ANC - the ANC being on the back foot in some of the municipalities, including the IFP this is likely to continue."
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In the latest incident, NFP councillor Ntombenhle Mchunu was gunned down in her home in Nongoma over the weekend.
The IFP lost one of its Mtubutuba councillors Innocent Mkhwanazi, who was shot last month, and the ACDP's John Myaka was killed in Umhlathuze.
A number of others have survived attempts on their lives in the province.
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Buccus says it's no surprise that most of the murders are happening in coalition-run municipalities.
"The future of politics in South Africa, local, provincial and national, will be coalition politics. The most highly contested terrain in terms of people jostling for positions is often at a local government level.
"So it comes as no surprise that patronage kind of dictates the extent to which people will go to to ensure that they get positions."
