Johannesburg - Investigations into political killings in KwaZulu-Natal by the Task Team have revealed that the most affected parties were the ANC, IFP and NFP, Police Minister Bheki Cele said.
He was speaking during the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) looking into political killings in KZN when he said among the 52 murder cases of councillors, 31 were from the ANC, 14 from the IFP, the NFP lost four, and the EFF and ACDP two and one, respectively.
“While 52 councillors have been gunned down since 2011 to date, alarmingly, 103 officials working within municipalities as political office bearers and officials in political offices were killed,” he said.
Cele was addressing the media on behalf of the IMC, consisting of the ministers of State Security, Defence, Justice and Correctional Services, and Cele, who also chairs the committee.
The IMC held its meeting on Tuesday in Durban, where it was presented with a detailed briefing on the work of the integrated multi-disciplinary Task Team investigating political killings in KZN since 2018.
He said that as the country moves towards elections, the IMC felt it necessary to brief on the latest developments around the investigation of political-linked violence in KZN.
According to Cele, since July 2018, there have been 321 investigated dockets, which is 63 more dockets compared with the last update in February last year. “The cases under scrutiny by the team include 155 cases of murder, 51 of attempted murder, 77 of intimidation, 12 of conspiracy to commit murder and 26 other ad hoc cases,” he said.
The minister said that there have been 348 arrested suspects who have already been charged in 233 cases.
“Sixty-two suspects have been convicted, while 155 are going through the court processes; 17 arrested suspects have since died during the court process,” said Cele.
He said that some of the motives for the killings were linked to intra-political conflicts, with a few cases linked to other motives, such as taxi violence, domestic-related issues, business competition, traditional leadership competition and family feuds.
“Murder cases that were reported before the 2016 and 2021 local government elections were mainly as a result of fighting over councillor positions, where candidate councillors were eliminated.
“The majority of the murder cases reported after the 2016 and 2021 local government elections were associated with infighting within structures and municipalities over positions,” said Cele.
He also highlighted that violent competition between business forums over community development projects or tenders was also noted as a possible motive.
Cele said that, on behalf of the IMC, he wished to dispel any notion that seeks to cast doubt on the work of the Task Team investigating political killings in KZN.
He further noted that as the general elections edge closer, efforts were being solidified to boost the work of the IMC as well as investigations.
Meanwhile, DA spokesperson on police Andrew Whitfield said that the portfolio committee on police yesterday approved a motion of desirability on the Ipid (Independent Police Investigative Directorate) Amendment Bill, which was found to be unconstitutional by the Office of the Chief State Law Adviser (OCSLA), a Parliamentary legal adviser and an advocate outside of government.
Whitfield said that the OCSLA had refused to certify this unconstitutional bill, yet the ANC members of the police committee decided to proceed.
The Star