By Sihle Mavuso
An ANC branch executive committee member in eThekwini was shot dead outside his home on Sunday night, capping a voter-registration weekend marred by political violence in which an ANC councillor and a DA by-election candidate were also killed.
Vukani Majozi, a member of the ANC branch executive committee in Ward 77 in Welbedacht, near Chatsworth, was killed by unknown gunmen after returning home from a Father’s Day outing with his family, ANC eThekwini regional coordinator Thanduxolo Sabelo said.
The shooting came as South Africans were registering to vote in the 4 November local government elections.
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According to the ANC, Majozi had earlier been involved in efforts to mobilise voters to register before taking his wife and child out for supper.
“Cde Majozi was a member of the BEC in Ward 77. He was killed by gunmen last night after returning home from the shopping mall, where he had supper with his wife and child. He was shot to death while trying to park his car. At that time, the wife and child were already out of the car, so they survived,” Sabelo said.
Sabelo said that despite speculation, the killing was not linked to any confrontation between ANC members and other political parties in the area.
“The leadership of the branch confirmed that there was never any confrontation between ANC members and other political parties. Even after the incident, members of the ANC, SACP, and some from MKP went to his house to support the family,” he said.
Acting Police Minister Professor Firoz Cachalia said on Monday that the voter-registration weekend had been marred by “a number of serious criminal incidents”, with 12 recorded nationally.
Cachalia said two of the incidents in Gauteng involved individuals linked to the MK Party, but did not provide further details.
“We strongly condemn these acts of violence. Political violence has no place in our constitutional democracy. An attack on political representatives or supporters, regardless of party affiliation, is an attack on the democratic rights of all South Africans,” Cachalia said during a media briefing.
The weekend also saw the killing of ANC councillor Sicelo Mleve in Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape.
Mleve, an ANC councillor in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, was killed on Saturday after returning from party work linked to the registration weekend.
In the Western Cape, DA Ward 104 by-election candidate Sinovuyo Dyokwe was shot dead in Dunoon on Saturday.
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The DA said Dyokwe, a well-known community activist in the area, was attacked while on her way home from a voter-registration venue after spending the day assisting residents to register or re-register to vote.
The party has offered a R50,000 reward for credible information that could lead to the arrest of those responsible for her murder.
The DA described Dyokwe as an energetic activist who had played an important role in growing the party’s support in Dunoon.
Cachalia said law enforcement agencies would continue monitoring politically linked violence and would respond to any threats to public safety or the democratic process.
