By Sihle Mavuso and Akani Nkuna
An ActionSA activist has been stabbed and strangled to death in KwaZulu-Natal, while an election presiding officer has died after collapsing at a voting station in North West, as the country began its special voting process ahead of the local government elections.
The two incidents have raised concerns about the safety of political activists and election officials during the electoral period.
Ntombi Mkhize (63), a prominent ActionSA activist in the Mnyameni area of Maphumulo Local Municipality, north of Durban, was killed over the weekend.
She was also the mother of the party’s Ward 11 candidate in the municipality, which falls under the iLembe District Municipality.
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According to preliminary reports received by ActionSA representatives on the ground, Mkhize was allegedly stabbed with a knife and strangled by unknown assailants just outside her home.
The party described her as an active supporter who regularly attended its meetings and called on the police to urgently investigate the killing.
“While we cannot speculate about the motives behind these incidents, their timing, just days before elections, is deeply concerning. We call on SAPS to urgently investigate both incidents and ensure the safety of political candidates, activists and their families. Political differences must never lead to violence or loss of life,” the party said.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Paul Magwaza confirmed that Maphumulo police had opened a murder case following the discovery of Mkhize’s body on Sunday, November 1.
“The victim was discovered lying on a pathway with visible injuries and bruises around her neck. The motive for the killing is currently unknown,” Magwaza said.
Meanwhile, Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo confirmed that a presiding officer had died after collapsing at her post in North West, while a deputy presiding officer was hit by a vehicle while travelling to a voting station in the uKhahlamba district in KwaZulu-Natal.
The deputy presiding officer was rushed to hospital.
“The Commission is providing the necessary support to the affected officials and families,” Mamabolo said.
He was addressing the media at the Results Operation Centre at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand on Monday, as special voting commenced across the country.
Despite the incidents, Mamabolo said the commission was recording an overall strong performance, with nearly 99% of voting stations opening at the stipulated time of 8am.
However, some stations in the City of Cape Town opened after 10am, following delays linked to the Constitutional Court judgment directing the IEC to include ANC candidates whose names had initially been omitted after the party failed to submit them before the deadline.
Mamabolo said the judgment, which also affected parts of the Eastern Cape, had necessitated the reprinting of ballot papers.
He said 28 million ballot papers already printed had become unusable, while 33 million had to be reprinted to accommodate the affected candidates, including those from 32 political parties whose lists were submitted late.
The ballot-paper shortage resulted in delays at 10 of the 116 wards that had not opened by 10am in parts of Cape Town and the Eastern Cape.
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“The printing process concluded yesterday. What we are struggling with is the packaging of those ballots so that we ensure that they contain all the security features that must be on the ballot.
“However, we can confirm that all remaining ballots in the City of Cape Town are already in decentralised storage facilities and we are increasingly distributing them to the voting stations,” Mamabolo said.
He said the commission had also recorded improvements in the efficiency of the voting process, attributing this to measures introduced to streamline voter verification and reduce delays.
These included integrating handheld barcode scanners with digital Voter Management Devices and introducing sequence numbers to help election officials locate voters more quickly on the voters’ roll.
Mamabolo said the commission expected further improvements on the second day of special voting.
