KZN political killings: 52 councillors dead, 348 arrests since 2011

Thirty-one victims were ANC councillors, while 14 were from the IFP, four from the NFP, two from the EFF and one from ACDP.

Cele addressed the media on the progress made in the battle against political killings in Durban on Wednesday.

In 2016, government set up the Moerane Commission to probe the underlying causes of political violence in KZN.

The commission found that there were serious weaknesses in the criminal justice system as well as national intelligence.

Cele said investigations have revealed that most affected political parties are the ANC, IFP and NFP.

"Alarmingly, 103 officials working within municipalities as political office bearers and officials in political offices were killed.

"Causative factors for these crimes are linked to intra-political conflicts with a few cases linked to other motives, such as Taxi violence, domestic related issues, business competition and traditional leadership competition as well as family feuds."

Cele said murders reported before the 2016 and 2021 local elections were as a result of fighting over councillor positions.

This while the majority of the murder cases reported after the two elections were associated with infightings within structures and municipalities over positions.

"Moreover, seemingly, there are pockets of society, where the barrel of the gun and not through negotiations decides coalitions. An investigation indicates that current tensions within and between political parties (inter and intra), are due to the unstable coalition governance," Cele added.

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