EDITORIAL | How political killings will impact you come voting day

With 10 weeks before the November 4 local government elections, South Africa has had yet another reminder of the deadly repercussions of political ascendance.

In a murder that bears the hallmarks of a political assassination, councillor and former Knysna mayor Aubrey Tsengwa was shot dead last week. Less than 24 hours later former councillor Mandla Matiwane and local taxi forum secretary Mandla Tyololo were gunned down.

And on Wednesday morning, the senior police officer tasked with finding those responsible was himself killed in a shootout with a suspect.

The 50-year-old police captain, whose name has not yet been released, was a member of the Western Cape Provincial Tactical Response Team (TRT) and was on an operation at the Sewende Laan informal settlement in the town. A 38-year-old suspect was also killed in the exchange of gunfire.

That is five lives lost for what appears to be a bloody quest to attain — or maintain — municipal supremacy. At stake is access to municipal coffers and tender-rigging.

While the motive for Tsengwa’s murder is unclear, Knysna has a fractious political terrain.

The picturesque Western Cape coastal town — often seen as a playground for the wealthy — has transitioned from a colonial timber outpost into a heavily contested political battleground characterised by fragile coalitions, service delivery tensions and shifting party dominance between the DA and the ANC.

Western Cape police oversight MEC Anroux Marais said Tsengwa’s murder came at an “increasingly sensitive political period” and warned that South Africa needs to be vigilant against any form of political violence.

This sinister activity always intensifies around elections. The Knysna murders are not an isolated incident and not limited to the ANC. They are merely the latest in a string of similar tragedies.

DA candidate councillor Sinovuyo Dyokwe was shot dead in Dunoon, Cape Town, on June 20 after allegations that she did not pay extortionists.

ANC ward councillor in eThekwini, Sibusiso Khwela, was gunned down in his office in Klaarwater on August 6.

Another ANC ward councillor, Sicelo Mleve, was shot dead at his office in Gqeberha on June 20.

These killings continue to pose a direct threat to democracy. They silence political voices, destabilise local administration and erode public trust in the rule of law.

EFF member Aaron Makola was found dead in Delmas with a gunshot wound on June 30. This month police arrested suspects linked to his murder, as well as that of Tshwane Ward 10 ANC councillor Thabang Masemola, who was killed in Mamelodi East on July 8 last year.