Opposition party organiser killed in South Africa, election violence fears mount

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 3 – An opposition party organiser was killed in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province late on Monday, heightening 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 REUTERS