KZN premier reveals 18 councillors have been assassinated in province in past 5 years

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli has revealed that at least 18 councillors have been assassinated in the province since the 2021 local government elections.

Murder of ANC councillor

Ntuli revealed this as he condemned the murder of eThekwini Municipality councillor Sibusiso Khwela on Thursday. The ANC councillor was shot in his office in Klaarwater by a lone gunman.

The police’s Political Killings Task Team has been deployed to investigate Khwela’s murder.

“We are deeply saddened and outraged by the brutal murder of Councillor Sibusiso Khwela… It is particularly disturbing that Councillor Khwela was killed while carrying out his responsibilities to the very community he had committed himself to serving,” said Ntuli.

“When a councillor is murdered, communities lose a representative, a link to municipal government and an important facilitator of service delivery,” he added.

“Political killings therefore rob our communities of the opportunity to receive speedy and effective service delivery. We cannot allow criminality and violence to undermine local government and our democratic institutions.”

Councillor assassinations in KZN

With the local government elections taking place on 4 November, there are concerns that more political killings might occur.

Ntuli revealed how many councillors have been killed since the previous local polls five years ago.

According to municipality figures:

• 5 councillors were killed in eThekwini Municipality;
• 2 councillors killed in uMngeni;
• 2 councillors killed in Mkhambathini;
• 2 councillors killed in Newcastle;
• 1 councillor was killed in uMsunduzi;
• 1 councillor was killed in uMzumbe;
• 1 councillor was killed in Endumeni;
• 1 councillor was killed in Abaqulusi;
• 1 councillor was killed in Nongoma;
• 1 councillor was killed in uMvoti; and
• 1 councillor was killed in uMhlathuze.

The KZN provincial government said these figures show that political killings are not concentrated in one area of the province. In recent years, the province has been seen as the epicentre of political killings in South Africa.

Ntuli calls for calm ahead of local elections

The KZN premier called for calm in the province as the local government elections approach.

“Our province has made significant progress in moving beyond the painful history of political violence. We cannot allow the killing of councillors and political representatives to reverse that progress,” he said.

Ntuli added that councillors and other public representatives should be able to campaign and serve their communities without fearing for their lives.