Municipal power struggles fuel political violence in South Africa

South Africa’s local government sphere is perceived to be a highly contested terrain. The high level of political contestation in municipalities is often driven by something beyond the ambition to occupy a political office. Occupying a political office is rather seen as a gateway to accessing the financial resources which are at the municipality’s disposal.

Whoever wields political authority subsequently dictates how the resources will be utilised, either to fulfil the primary function of a municipality by delivering sustainable services to the community, or for rent-seeking purposes that gratify personal interests. The latter has become a norm across the country, often leading to a scrambling of resources between political opponents which, in some cases, lead to political assassinations orchestrated by rival opponents. According to the 2024 Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, a total of 186 politically motivated assassinations were recorded in all South Africa’s election years since 2000.

The report also says 56% (105) of these incidents occurred during municipal elections, while national and provincial elections account for 44% (81). These statistics are testament to the crisis that is confronting local government institutions. Furthermore, they expose a wider problem of how deeply rooted crime has become in politics.

In July 2017, former ANC Youth League secretary-general and councillor at uMzimkhulu local municipality Sindiso Magaqa was assassinated because of his anticorruption stance in relation to the misuse of municipal funds. A similar incident occurred at Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape within the same month in 2017 when council speaker Thozama Njobe was assassinated. Njobe was also known as an anticorruption politician who spoke out against wrongdoing in the municipality.

These are but a few out of the myriad political killings that have occurred in municipalities over the past decade, revealing a systemic problem that compromises institutional integrity and accountability at the expense of life. The recent killings of political activists Thato Molosankwe and Mokoena Letsie in North West, as well as those of Cape Town DA ward councillor candidate Sinovuyo Dyokwe and ANC ward councillor Sicelo Mleve in Nelson Mandela Bay, are illustrative of persistent political intolerance in local communities.