43 killed in political hits ahead of S.Africa polls: report

Suspected political assassinations in South Africa have claimed at least 43 lives this year to September, with local government elections still one month away, a report said Friday.

The country holds local government elections on November 4 with parties hoping to benefit from disillusionment with the ANC, the largest party since democracy in 1994, over collapsed infrastructure, crime and corruption.

The toll in suspected political hits so far this year already tops the full-year total since the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) started monitoring in 2015, the organisation said.

It comes with "highest-risk months still ahead as contests for political power gather pace," said the independent civil-society organisation headquartered in Geneva.

According to the GI-TOC database, 45 politically linked attacks were recorded to September 30, mostly directed at political party officials, ward councillors, members of civic organisations and movements, and traditional leadership.

Of the 43 people who were killed, 13 were from the ANC followed by eight from the MK Party (MKP) led by disgraced former president Jacob Zuma, according to the report entitled "Bullets and Ballots".

Most of the attacks were in the KwaZulu-Natal province, the MKP stronghold, with the Gauteng province that includes economic hub of Johannesburg following with 10.

The local government election will be a test of support for the ANC ahead of the 2029 national elections after the party that led the struggle against apartheid lost its majority in 2024.