Two crime and violence researchers say the recent killings of ANC activists at party gatherings should not be seen as a reflection of tensions ahead of the Nasrec conference in December.
Concerns of renewed intra-party violence were raised when ANC activist in Pienaar, Mpumalanga, Norman Ngwenya was stabbed to death and another comrade was injured during an ANC branch general meeting in Kanyamazane last Sunday.
“While there have been some incidents, the run up to 55th National conference of ANC has not been more violent than during previous conferences. There are few court cases in Eastern Cape, Gauteng and North West province, challenging regional conferences,” said Gareth Newham, head of justice and violence prevention at the Institute for Security Studies
While branch general meetings could appear a little far removed from the where money decisions were made, Newham saw these as the basic source of influence.
“Branch general meetings is where everything starts in terms of nominations, be it regional, provincial or national executive committees and for councillors, MPLs and MPs.
“Branches are close to municipalities, councillors and municipal officials. Municipalities have been used as vehicles of self-enrichment by the collective winners of the branch nomination processes within a region. So the emphasis is on winning the branch first. Use the branch to lobby regions and take the municipality and use the municipality as vehicles to build and reward patronage,” said Newham.
Speaking after the shooting and killing of Tshwane councillor Tshepo Motaung last year, police minister Bheki Cele blamed political killings on criminals wanting to control whose name got to the ballot.
“There are people who want to be councillors, not on behalf of the people in the community but on behalf of criminal syndicates so that the thugs they serve can continue to terrorise and extort businesses in the area.
“There are also politicians who are trying to have their preferred candidates contest elections and believe that using violence and intimidation tactics is going to work. It won’t. We are going hard on this phenomenon. The SAPS and the detective team that has been appointed will ensure that everyone who is involved in these crimes is dealt with accordingly,” said Cele.
Newham said political killings were an ongoing phenomenon mainly related to access to resources, mostly at the municipal level. These tended to escalate when there was political competition for positions.
He said that KZN (with 56% or 103 of 158 killings in 2021) and Mpumalanga were rightfully notorious for political killings.
“KZN killings of councillors and political subjects is continuing and no visible impact of the report in terms of reducing the killings; this goes even further than just ANC members, to broader community activists in KZN who are linked to certain ANC factions.
“This suggests that while the party does not take action to remove powerful ANC people in KZN and other provinces who are involved in corruption and other forms of organised criminality, political killings and violence will continue,” said Newham.
An inter-ministerial committee on political killings in KwaZulu-Natal was established in 2018. A multi-disciplinary task team was then established comprising the SA Police Service (SAPS) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) with the support of the State Security Agency (SSA) and correctional services.
“They have had some successes,” said Newham. “There was a dramatic decline in the number of these killings in KZN in 2020. However the Covid-19 pandemic may have had some impact and it is therefore too soon to say whether this will have a longer-term effect as political killings surged again in KZN during local government elections last year.”
Violence monitor Mary de Haas said political violence was simply a manifestation of the type of society and policing SA had.
“The crux of the problem is that we are such a violent, badly policed society. Hitmen are readily available, and people resort to violence to solve all sorts of problems. That is what we should be very concerned about, with politically linked killings just a variation of the violence theme.” said de Haas.
She said political killings continued because there are very few convictions and thus a culture of impunity.
“This is a general crime problem not just political. It seems there is no political or police will. Even if hitmen are found and convicted, it is usually very difficult to find proof of who sent them and they may be killed themselves,” she said.
“The police may get a few convictions but they won’t get to the bottom of anything important if senior politicians are implicated as they have been in some cases, such as that of Sindiso Magaqa. A senior, well-connected politician was arrested and then charges were withdrawn and he subsequently, mysteriously died, supposedly suicide,” she said.
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