A provincial concern? Political killings in South Africa

• Published date: 01 September 2013
• DOI: 10.10520/EJC142347
• Author: David Bruce
• Pages: 13-24
• Date: 01 September 2013

SA Crime Quarterly no 45 •September 2013 13

A PROVINCIAL

CONCERN?

David Bruce*

davidbjhb@gmail.com

Politically motivated killings have occupied a relatively marginal position as an issue of public concern in

South Africa since 1994. This may reflect the provincial nature of the problem, since such killings have

mainly occurred in KwaZulu-Natal, with a much smaller number occurring in Mpumalanga and even fewer

recorded elsewhere. Based on a scan of documentary information, this article estimates that there have been

approximately 450 political killings in KwaZulu-Natal since 1994, with most having taken place in the mid

and late 1990s and just under 25% (107) since 2003. The root of the problem in KwaZulu-Natal may be the

militarisation of the province during the apartheid period. Some political killings in the province continue to

be linked to inter-party conflict that has roots in that time. However, political killings since the end of

apartheid are mostly linked to local political rivalries and connections to criminal networks, notably in the

taxi industry. Though the problem is concentrated in specific provinces it is likely to impact on political life

in South Africa more broadly.

The period since the transition to democracy has

been associated with a major decline in the role

played by violence in South African politics.

Violence nevertheless continues to be a feature of

political contestation. This is evident from the

large number of community protests that have

involved forms of violence, such as the burning of

local council buildings or the homes of councillors.

Collective violence of this kind generally does not

involve fatalities, though there are exceptions to

this. Action by the police in response to protests

has also in some cases resulted in fatalities, such as

the killing of Andries Tatane in April 2011 and

that of 34 people during a strike by miners in

Marikana in August 2012. Political killings are

another way in which violence continues to play a

role in political contestation. As will be discussed,

these killings have been a sustained feature of

political life in South Africa, particularly in

KwaZulu-Natal, but also in Mpumalanga, through

most of the post-1994 period. This article provides

an overview of this phenomenon.

CATEGORISING KILLINGS

AS POLITICAL

In this article ‘political killings’ refer to killings

related to contestation over political power. The

killings that are the focus of the article, including

most of those from the late 1990s onwards, are

generally what appear to be deliberate killings of

specific individuals, sometimes referred to as

‘assassinations’. However, political killings may also

occur, for instance, in clashes between groups of

members of rival political parties or in other

incidents such as massacres. In this article the

focus is mainly on the killings of people who are

affiliated to political parties. For a killing to be

‘political’ it must be motivated by or connected to

contestation or rivalry, either regarding access to

Political killings in South

Africa

* David Bruce is an independent researcher. This article

was funded by the Institute for Security Studies.

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