Suspected political assassinations in South Africa have claimed at least 43 lives this year to September, with Local Government elections still one month away, a report said on Friday.
The country holds Local Government elections on November 4.
The toll in suspected political hits so far this year already tops the full-year total since the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) started monitoring the situation in 2015, the organisation said.
It comes with “highest-risk months still ahead as contests for political power gather pace,” said the independent civil-society organisation headquartered in Geneva.
According to the GI-TOC database, 45 politically linked attacks were recorded to September 30, mostly directed at political party officials, ward councillors, members of civic organisations and movements, and the traditional leadership.
Of the 43 people killed, 13 were from the ANC, followed by eight from the MK Party (MKP) led by former President Jacob Zuma, according to the report titled “Bullets and Ballots”.
Most of the attacks were in the KwaZulu-Natal province, the MKP stronghold, with the Gauteng province that includes the economic hub of Johannesburg following with 10.
The Local Government election will be a test of support for the ANC ahead of the 2029 national elections after the party that led the struggle against apartheid
