The murders of two Inkatha Freedom Party candidates in KwaZulu-Natal within seven days have placed political violence back at the centre of the country’s election campaign, as an organised-crime expert warned that politicians may be turning to gangs to eliminate their rivals.
Lucky Sokhela, the IFP candidate for Ward 8 in uMshwathi Municipality, was gunned down in front of his family and neighbours on Tuesday afternoon.
His killing came days after fellow IFP candidate Khethelo Mdluli, 40, was shot at his home in oPhindweni, Gingindlovu, on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast.
Mdluli, who was contesting Ward 17 in the uMlalazi Local Municipality and had served as an IFP proportional-representation councillor since 2021, died in hospital on Monday.
The attacks came as South Africa prepares for the November 4 local government elections and as political parties compete for control of municipalities, wards and the resources attached to public office.
The timing has intensified concerns about whether candidates and councillors are being targeted because of political competition, local power struggles or criminal interests linked to municipal contracts.
No motive has been confirmed in either of the two IFP cases.
However, the murders were reported on the same day that organised-crime expert Dr Mark Shaw told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry that political violence was increasingly connected to criminal networks.
Shaw, the executive director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, said there was an intersection between organised crime and politics in cases involving political killings.
“Data shows that assassinations used to occur largely within the ANC, but lately it shows that assassinations have spread to all parties. I may be wrong, but the MKP (uMkhonto Wesizwe Party) is the most targeted now,” Shaw said.
He said political assassinations linked to gangs damaged political practice and the country’s constitutional democracy.
“That is linked to the criminal market where people are recruited to carry out hits,” he said.
Shaw said KwaZulu-Natal had historically recorded the highest number of assassinations in the data he had studied.
He said the data was divided into political killings, taxi-related killings, organised crime and personal hits.
“I don’t have those numbers in front of me, [but] I can supply them to the commission. I don’t want to state wrong numbers.
“KZN has historically had the highest numbers of assassinations in our data, which is divided into four categories: political killings, taxi-related killings, organised crime, and personal hits,” he said.
Shaw did not say whether Sokhela’s or Mdluli’s killings had been orchestrated within a political party or by people outside the parties.
Sokhela Killed At His Home
IFP district secretary in uMshwathi, Mzwandile Majozi, said Sokhela had just returned from Pietermaritzburg and parked his vehicle at the gate of his homestead in Swayimane when he was attacked.
“Upon parking his car, a white VW Polo pulled over next to him, and men alighted to open fire before driving away,” Majozi said.
The attack was carried out in view of family members and neighbours, adding to the distress surrounding the murder.
Majozi said Sokhela had survived two previous incidents in which his life was allegedly threatened.
“This was the third attempt on his life, as we are told that on a second occasion he was accosted by a strange car, but he managed to get away,” he said.
The IFP does not believe Sokhela’s murder was connected to the party’s nomination process, which can sometimes create disputes between candidates and supporters.
Because the Electoral Commission has closed the submission of candidates, the party intends to campaign for Sokhela in the ward.
If he wins the election, the ward will hold a by-election after November 4.
That decision means the party will continue to present Sokhela as its candidate while investigators work to establish who killed him and why.
Mdluli Shot In Front Of Children
Mdluli was shot at his home in Gingindlovu on Thursday, 27 August, in front of his children.
He was taken to Ngwelezane Hospital in Empangeni but died from his injuries on Monday.
His death left his family dealing with the loss of a public representative who had also been an important source of support at home.
Family spokesperson Bheki Mathe described Mdluli as a pillar of the family despite being unemployed and relying on odd jobs to earn a living.
“Every time I needed help, he would assist me. All I need is for the perpetrators to be arrested so that we get to know who orchestrated the murder,” Mathe said.
The IFP has called on the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killing Task Team to investigate both murders and determine whether political motives played a role.
IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the killing of two candidates within a week required urgent action from law-enforcement authorities.
“Two political candidates murdered within seven days is an alarming development that demands an immediate and decisive response from law-enforcement authorities,” Hlengwa said.
The party appealed to the South African Police Service to treat the cases as a priority and to use every available resource to identify, arrest and prosecute those responsible.
“We call on the South African Police Service (SAPS) to treat these cases as matters of the highest priority and to mobilise every necessary resource to ensure that those responsible are identified, arrested, and prosecuted,” Hlengwa said.
The IFP has also urged investigators to establish whether the killings were politically motivated rather than assuming that the victims were targeted for personal reasons.
MK Party Also Reports Candidate Killings
The IFP killings have added to concerns raised by the MK Party, which says its candidates and public representatives have also been targeted.
In a statement following the murder of MK Party founding member Gideon “Mfene” Thusini in KwaMashu on July 3, party spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu said MK activists were increasingly becoming targets as the party gained support.
“There is growing concern that as the MK Party gains support, our members are increasingly becoming targets. To date, nine of our councillors and mayoral candidates have been gunned down,” Mahlangu said.
MK Party secretary-general Sibonelo Nomvalo later said seven of those victims were from KwaZulu-Natal, while one was from the Western Cape and another from Gauteng.
“Comrades answered the call to serve their communities under the banner of the MKP but did not live to see the fulfillment of that mission because of political killings and violence.
“This is a great travesty. The party has taken the matter up with the PKTT in order to bring those responsible to book,” Nomvalo said.
The allegations have not been tested in relation to every individual case, and party statements do not establish the motives behind the killings.
They do, however, show the growing concern among political organisations that candidates are being attacked as the elections approach.
Violence Across Party Lines
The violence has not been limited to the IFP and MK Party.
ANC Ward 17 councillor Sibusiso Cedrick Khwela was gunned down outside his office at the Sizakala Centre in Klaarwater, near Mariannhill, last month.
ANC councillor Sicelo Mleve, who served in Nelson Mandela Bay, was murdered at his office in Zwide on June 20. Two suspects were arrested in connection with the case.
Knysna Municipality arranged protection for councillors after the killing of ANC Ward 8 councillor Aubrey Tsengwa late last month.
In Cape Town, DA Ward 10 candidate Sinovuyo Dyokwe was fatally shot after taking part in voter-registration activities in Dunoon on June 20.
The wider pattern has also included attacks involving other political organisations and community activists in different provinces.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Mukhathi was not able to provide an update on the investigations into the recent murders.
The absence of confirmed motives has made it difficult to determine whether the killings form part of one coordinated campaign or reflect separate local disputes.
That question will have to be answered through evidence gathered by investigators rather than political claims.
The Battle For Political Power
Political analyst Dr Imraan Buccus linked council killings to patronage and competition for access to public office.
“Being a councillor is very often the differentiation between having a comfortable middle class life and living a life at the base of our social structure,” Buccus said.
He said political killings had changed over time.
“We are coming from a history where political killings were inter-party like we would remember in KZN’S political of the IFP and ANC, but in recent years, the killings are intra-party linked to upward mobility and patronage,” he said.
Buccus said the Political Killing Task Team could be useful but might not be enough to deter people who saw public office as a route to money and influence.
The competition can become particularly intense at municipal level, where councillors are involved in decisions affecting tenders, development projects, land, service delivery and local administration.
Criminologist and University of KwaZulu-Natal academic leader Professor Nirmala Gopal said councillors could be viewed as more accessible targets than senior politicians.
“It could be that councillors are perceived as more accessible targets, or that the impact of such an act may attract less attention than a minister’s assassination.
“Additionally, ministers often have more robust security measures, making them potentially more challenging to target.
“Moreover, if ministers and councillors are vying for similar contracts, it’s conceivable that the more seasoned and well-connected minister could strategically plan for an unfortunate outcome,” she said.
Gopal’s comments were a general assessment and did not link any specific person to the killings of Sokhela or Mdluli.
Task Team Secures Convictions
The political killings have continued despite the work of the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killing Task Team.
This week, the task team secured life sentences against Khayelihle Shabalala and Thabo Mathonsi for the murder of DA councillor Nhlalayenza Ndlovu in the uMngeni Local Municipality.
Ndlovu was killed in front of his wife and children in December 2023.
In the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court, Shabalala and Mathonsi confessed to conspiring with Amanxamalala tribal authority Inkosi Simphiwe Zuma and others to kill Ndlovu.
Zuma and the other accused remain on trial.
The convictions demonstrate that political killing cases can result in serious consequences when investigators secure evidence and prosecutors present a successful case.
But the latest murders show that candidates remain vulnerable despite the existence of specialised investigations.
As parties prepare for the November election, the IFP is demanding answers about Sokhela and Mdluli, while families wait for arrests and explanations.
The central question is whether the killings are isolated attacks, the result of local political rivalries or part of a wider relationship between organised crime and political power.
For now, investigators have not confirmed the motives in either IFP case.
The party’s candidates are being buried while the campaign continues, leaving communities to confront an election in which some people are being asked to vote for politicians who may already have paid the highest price for trying to serve them.
