{"version":"1.9","identifier":"884b3de5-72eb-4c96-9401-63c7d88c3338","language":"en-US","title":"South Africa votes after MK Party organizer's killing; police count 20 political murders","layout":{"columns":7,"width":1024,"margin":32,"gutter":20},"componentLayouts":{"text":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"maximumContentWidth":720,"margin":{"top":12,"bottom":12}},"photo":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"margin":{"top":20,"bottom":20}}},"componentTextStyles":{"default":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"textColor":"#171717"},"headline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue-Bold","fontSize":36,"lineHeight":42,"conditional":[{"conditions":{"maxViewportWidth":480},"fontSize":28,"lineHeight":34}]},"intro":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":20,"lineHeight":28,"textColor":"#555555"},"caption":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":19,"textColor":"#666666"},"byline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":20,"textColor":"#666666"},"body":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"paragraphSpacingAfter":14,"linkStyle":{"textColor":"#00704a"}}},"metadata":{"canonicalURL":"https://567politics.com/news/south-africa-political-killings-mkp-shazi-soldiers-kwazulu-natal-local-elections-november-2026","datePublished":"2026-11-04T00:16:33.911427Z","dateModified":"2026-11-04T00:17:39.036059Z","authors":["567politics staff"],"excerpt":"Lastborn Shazi was shot at his KwaZulu-Natal home before Wednesday's vote. Police and independent monitors give different counts and remedies.","thumbnailURL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/884b3de5-72eb-4c96-9401-63c7d88c3338/aa778fdc1e4336070a7d5cce7804fefd.jpg","keywords":["za"],"generatorName":"Frog News","generatorVersion":"1.0"},"components":[{"role":"title","text":"South Africa votes after MK Party organizer's killing; police count 20 political murders","textStyle":"headline","layout":"text"},{"role":"intro","text":"Lastborn Shazi was shot at his KwaZulu-Natal home before Wednesday's vote. Police and independent monitors give different counts and remedies.","textStyle":"intro","layout":"text"},{"role":"byline","text":"By 567politics staff · Published November 4, 2026","textStyle":"byline","layout":"text"},{"role":"photo","URL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/884b3de5-72eb-4c96-9401-63c7d88c3338/aa778fdc1e4336070a7d5cce7804fefd.jpg","caption":"Voters queue at a polling station at Table View High School, Cape Town, during South Africa's 2009 election (representative photo). Photo: Warren Rohner, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Warren Rohner via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)","accessibilityCaption":"Voters queue at a polling station at Table View High School, Cape Town, during South Africa's 2009 election (representative photo). Photo: Warren Rohner, CC BY-SA 2.0","layout":"photo"},{"role":"caption","text":"Voters queue at a polling station at Table View High School, Cape Town, during South Africa's 2009 election (representative photo). Photo: Warren Rohner, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Warren Rohner via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)","textStyle":"caption","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"South Africans vote in local government elections on Wednesday, November 4, after a campaign in which a party organizer was shot dead on its final Monday night. Lastborn Shazi, 45, was the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party's regional organizer in the Ugu district on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast and a proportional-representation councillor candidate. Police say he was shot at his home late on November 2. His killing came a day after the national security cluster reported 20 murders of political representatives, members and supporters during the municipal election period.\n\nThis report sets out what police, the governing parties, the MK Party and independent monitors have said about the killing and the wider pattern. It also explains why their counts differ. Facts are current as of about 7:30 p.m. ET (2:30 a.m. South African time) on November 3, 2026. Polls open at 7 a.m. local time on November 4, and this story will need an update once voting closes and results arrive.\n\n## What is known about the Shazi killing\n\nKwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda told [The Witness](https://witness.co.za/news/2026/11/03/police-probe-murder-of-mk-party-organiser-in-kzn/) on November 3 that the 45-year-old was \"allegedly shot and killed at his home in Mathulini\" on Monday night. Officers responding to reports of a shooting found him with gunshot wounds. Netshiunda said \"the suspects were unknown at this stage\" and that the motive formed part of the investigation. He added that \"preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased was a regional organiser of a political party in the Ugu District and was also a PR Councillor candidate.\"\n\nReuters, in a report [carried by ThePrint](https://theprint.in/world/opposition-party-organiser-killed-in-south-africa-election-violence-fears-mount/3089609/), quoted Netshiunda as saying a murder case had been opened. It reported that Shazi was on a Zoom call coordinating the party's campaign when he was shot. The [Mail & Guardian](https://mg.co.za/politics/2026-11-03-mk-party-calls-for-urgent-investigation-into-killing-of-kzn-leader-lastborn-shazi/) reported that he was in a virtual meeting with the party's regional elections team and that gunmen knocked on the door before opening fire. The Witness places his home in Mathulini, near Mthwalume; the Mail & Guardian places it in uMzumbe. No arrest had been reported at the time of writing.\n\nThe MK Party, led by former President Jacob Zuma, asked the police Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) to take the case. \"We demand a thorough impartial and expedited investigation,\" KwaZulu-Natal party spokesperson Mkhuseli Mlengane said in the statement quoted by the Mail & Guardian. He told The Witness that the party had no leads. He also warned against guessing at motive: \"We don't want any speculation around his murder, what we want is an official and thorough investigation by the PKTT.\"\n\nThe killing lands in a province where the MK Party is a central contender. Reuters reported that recent polls project the MK Party as the largest party in the eThekwini metro, which includes Durban, displacing the African National Congress (ANC) there. We have not reviewed those polls directly, so field dates, sample sizes and margins are not available for this report. Readers should treat the projection as a description of Reuters' reporting, not a 567politics forecast.\n\n## The official count: 20 murders and 139 dockets\n\nOn November 1, the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) held a readiness briefing. The [speaker notes published on gov.za](https://www.gov.za/news/speeches/natjoints-state-readiness-media-briefing-2026-local-government-elections-01-nov-2026) state that the security cluster \"is ready to facilitate and safeguard free, fair and safe Local Government Elections.\" The SAPS said it had put specialized investigators, \"including the Political Killings Task Team,\" on political killing cases.\n\nReports of the briefing by [IOL](https://iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/2026-11-02-20-political-linked-murders-139-election-crime-cases-recorded-as-south-africa-heads-to-polls/) and [Politicsweb](https://www.politicsweb.co.za/news/20-murders-linked-to-lge-2026-campaign-seven-arrests-natjoints) give the figure of 20 murders involving political representatives, members and supporters, with seven arrests. By province, Gauteng recorded seven, KwaZulu-Natal six, the Western Cape three, the Eastern Cape two, and the Free State and North West one each.\n\n**Election-period murders of political representatives, members and supporters, by province**\n\nCovers the 2026 municipal election period up to the Nov 1 briefing. Total 20 murders, 7 arrests. Provinces with no reported cases are omitted.","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"},{"role":"htmltable","html":"
ProvinceMurders
Gauteng7
KwaZulu-Natal6
Western Cape3
Eastern Cape2
Free State1
North West1
","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"Source: [IOL](https://iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/2026-11-02-20-political-linked-murders-139-election-crime-cases-recorded-as-south-africa-heads-to-polls/), [Politicsweb](https://www.politicsweb.co.za/news/20-murders-linked-to-lge-2026-campaign-seven-arrests-natjoints)\n\nPolice also reported 139 election-related criminal dockets. Of those, 21 came from the first voter registration weekend, 13 from the second and 105 from outside those weekends. Forty-eight people had been arrested, 69 dockets were under investigation, eight were with prosecutors and 25 were enrolled in court. Charges under the Electoral Act made up the largest group, at 72 dockets with 22 arrests. The rest included 17 other offenses, 14 assaults, 10 murders, 10 intimidation cases, eight malicious damage cases, seven thefts and one attempted murder.\n\nThe two figures do not line up. [Inside Politics](https://insidepolitic.co.za/political-murder-numbers-dont-add-up-as-sa-prepares-to-vote/) noted that the briefing did not explain how 10 murder dockets relate to 20 recorded murders. Police did not give a reason in the materials we reviewed.\n\n## Independent counts run higher\n\nTwo independent monitors publish larger numbers, using different definitions and time frames.\n\nThe Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) published \"Ballots and Bullets,\" by Julian Rademeyer, in October. [The report](https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/targeted-killings-south-africa-2026-local-government-elections/) counts 45 suspected political attacks between January 1 and September 30, 2026, in which at least 43 people were killed. It found 23 political killings in the same months of 2025. The 2026 nine-month figure already exceeds every full-year political total in its series since 2015. The previous highs were 42 in 2019 and 40 in 2022.\n\n**Suspected political assassinations recorded by GI-TOC, selected years**\n\n2026 covers January 1 to September 30 only. Other years are full-year totals. GI-TOC says many incidents rest on a single media source.","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"},{"role":"htmltable","html":"
YearKilled
201942
202130
202240
202433
202531
2026 (Jan-Sep)43
","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"Source: [GI-TOC, Ballots and Bullets, October 2026](https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/targeted-killings-south-africa-2026-local-government-elections/)\n\nGI-TOC flags limits on its own data. Of the 205 targeted-killing incidents it logged for 2026, 105, or 51 percent, rest on a single source. The report says more intensive data collection this year may account for part of the increase. It reports arrests or charges in at least 12 of the 45 political incidents. \"Even when gunmen are arrested, the people who ordered the killings are rarely identified,\" it says.\n\nThe Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Crime Hub uses a protest and public violence monitor. Its [October 30 fact sheet](https://issafrica.org/analysis/fact-sheets/killing-for-office-political-killings-and-public-violence-ahead-of-south-africa-s-4-november-2026-local-elections) counts 34 people killed in 26 attacks on councillors, candidates, party members, civic leaders and a traditional leader between May and late October. It says removing three borderline cases would reduce that to 30 deaths in 23 events \"but it would not change any finding.\" By the ISS count, political killings made up more than half of all deaths in its monitor over that period. Fourteen of the dead were sitting or former councillors or confirmed candidates.\n\nThe ISS describes three waves that follow the electoral calendar: voter registration, candidate selection and the final campaign fortnight. It says KwaZulu-Natal (10 deaths) and Gauteng (9) together account for 56 percent of political deaths, with killings now recorded in seven provinces. Victims came from several parties. It reports that an arrest or charge has been made public in four of the 26 cases. It also notes that in August NATJOINTS reported seven politically motivated murders since January, \"counting only party members and councillors.\"\n\nOne case outside KwaZulu-Natal shows how hard motive can be to pin down. In Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, four ANC Youth League members were killed on October 13. The accused, Fani Sibeko, served as an Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) councillor from 2016 to 2021. The ISS reports that the EFF says he left the party in 2022 and that the shooting had no political dimension, while the ANC Youth League alleges a political motive. No court has ruled on motive.\n\n## Other KwaZulu-Natal cases\n\nThe Witness lists other recent killings in the province. ANC councillor Lungani Makhathini and branch activist Nokuthula Mavundla were shot dead while canvassing door to door in Umgababa, south of Durban, on October 15. Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) councillor candidates Khethelo Mdluli, Lucky Sokhela and James Mabaso were also killed. The Mail & Guardian reported that ActionSA activist and councillor candidate Ntombi Mkhize was stabbed and strangled in Maphumulo over the weekend before Shazi's death. Police have not linked these cases to one another.\n\n## Soldiers and high-risk stations\n\nPresident Cyril Ramaphosa authorized 510 members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to support police in KwaZulu-Natal from October 9 to November 30, under Operation Prosper. [The Presidency's notice](https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/president-ramaphosa-deploys-south-african-national-defence-force-kwazulu-natal) puts the expected cost at R34,082,720. It ties the deployment to \"recent violent actions arising from a campaign of misinformation about the Constitutional Court judgment on the Refugee Act,\" not to the election itself.\n\nParliament's Joint Standing Committee on Defence [backed the deployment](https://www.parliament.gov.za/press-releases/media-statement-defence-committee-supports-deployment-510-sandf-members-assist-saps-kwazulu-natal) but asked for quicker notification and a detailed cost breakdown. [The National](https://thenational.co.za/news/2026-10-27-r34m-army-deployment-in-kzn-adds-to-protest-security-bill-as-polls-loom/) compared it with the July 2021 unrest response, when 25,000 soldiers were deployed at a reported cost of R615 million.\n\nReuters reported that police have classed more than 165 KwaZulu-Natal voting stations as high-risk. NATJOINTS also cited a Durban High Court interim order involving the Minister of Police and the March and March movement. It said the order restricts protest conduct that threatens public safety but does not ban peaceful, unarmed protest.\n\n## What the parties and ministers have said\n\nThe ANC has condemned the killings and asked the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to use its conflict-management tools. In an [October 16 statement](https://www.politicsweb.co.za/news/anc-condemns-political-violence-and-calls-for-peaceful-local-govt-elections), it urged members not to retaliate. Cooperative Governance Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa, who leads the IFP, called for peaceful elections, [IOL's The Star reported](https://iol.co.za/the-star/news/2026-11-03-hlabisa-calls-for-peaceful-elections-amid-20-political-killings/) on November 3.\n\nVictims this year have included members of the ANC, IFP, MK Party, ActionSA and the Democratic Alliance. The statements we reviewed differ in emphasis. The MK Party's focus is on the PKTT and an impartial police inquiry. The ANC's October statement leaned on the IEC's role in managing disputes between parties and candidates.\n\n## Why the killings happen: competing explanations\n\nResearchers do not agree on how closely the violence tracks the election. GI-TOC links much of it to competition for municipal posts. \"In municipal politics, the prize is often power and wealth rather than ideology,\" the report says. It notes that a ward councillor's post brings a salary and influence over housing lists, jobs and contracts. It cites the 2018 Moerane Commission, appointed by the KwaZulu-Natal premier, which found that access to resources through the tender system was \"a primary cause of political killings.\" GI-TOC says most of the commission's recommendations were not implemented.\n\nThe Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED) takes a longer view. In [an expert comment](https://acleddata.com/expert-comment/could-south-africas-local-elections-increase-risk-violence-against-local-officials) by analyst Susanna Deetlefs, ACLED said it had recorded 397 incidents of violence targeting local administrators since 2018, including 200 attacks that caused 166 deaths. It said \"the violence is not necessarily election-driven,\" because the deadliest periods came outside local election years.\n\nThe ISS warns that risk does not end at the ballot box. It recommends that protection \"extend beyond voting stations to ward candidates in contested wards and party agents in transit.\" It says security should be sustained \"through council formation and mayoral elections after polling day.\" It also calls for the PKTT to \"publish an updated, case-by-case count of investigations and arrests.\"\n\nFor background on how the vote itself is being run, see our earlier report on [special votes in South Africa's local elections](https://567politics.com/news/south-africa-local-elections-special-votes-november-2026). For a separate pressure on Pretoria this month, see [the U.S. suspension of AGOA benefits for South Africa and Rwanda](https://567politics.com/news/us-suspends-south-africa-rwanda-agoa-greer-november-2026). For a regional comparison of political violence and rights reporting, see our coverage of [Human Rights Watch's report on Zambia's post-election crackdown](https://567politics.com/news/zambia-hrw-post-election-crackdown-report-hichilema-november-2026). Our wider [elections hub](https://567politics.com/elections) tracks other votes.\n\n## What to watch\n\nVoting runs from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time on November 4. NATJOINTS has said it will give daily briefings through the electoral period. After polls close, watch whether police update the murder count and explain the docket figures. Also watch for PKTT progress on the Shazi case, and for violence during council formation, which the ISS has warned about.\n\n## Limitations\n\nThe 20-murder figure comes from a police briefing. We reviewed the gov.za speaker notes and two press reports of the briefing, but not a written police dataset. GI-TOC and ISS counts use different definitions, periods and sources, so they cannot be added together or compared one-to-one. GI-TOC itself says that many incidents rest on a single media report. The ACLED figures cover violence against local officials since 2018 and are not limited to election periods. We could not reach Shazi's family or the PKTT, and we have not reviewed the eThekwini polls cited by Reuters. The motive for Shazi's killing has not been established. For how we handle sourcing and counts, see our [methodology](https://567politics.com/methodology) and [editorial standards](https://567politics.com/editorial-standards).","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"}]}