Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
An opposition party organiser was killed in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province late on Monday.
This heightened fears of political violence before Wednesday’s local government elections.
Senior police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda said on Tuesday that a murder case had been opened after Lastborn Shazi, whom the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) identified, was shot dead at his home while on a Zoom call coordinating the party’s election campaign.
Netshiunda said police were investigating the motive.
South African police said at the weekend that 20 murders involving political representatives, party members and supporters had been recorded during the municipal election period.
Recent polls project the MKP to emerge as the largest party in the hotly contested eThekwini metropolitan area – the economic hub of KwaZulu-Natal province – and displace the governing African National Congress (ANC) there.
Former President Jacob Zuma leads the MKP after a bitter split with the ANC in 2023. The party’s rise helped erode the ANC’s support in the 2024 national election.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last week ordered the deployment of 510 soldiers to KwaZulu-Natal to support police, who have identified more than 165 polling stations in the province as high-risk.
