DURBAN - ELECTION observers have raised the alarm about political killings, saying they posed a threat to contesting councillors, their families and supporters, and made it risky for them to monitor the polls.
The comments come after a third councillor candidate was killed, just five days before the election.
Dumisani Qwabe, the NFP candidate in ward 17 in the Nongoma area was found murdered on Monday night.
Two weeks ago, ANC candidate for ward 101 in Durban, Siyabonga Mkhize, was killed. A day after Mkhize’s murder, EFF candidate in ward 20 in Pietermaritzburg Thulani Shangase was also shot dead.
The killings have sparked calls from political parties for more forceful police intervention, including the deployment of special units.
Election observers, the Election Monitoring Network and the KZN Christian Council condemned the latest killing.
“As election observers everywhere in the country, we are united in shock and grief at the death of Qwabe and several others in different provinces who have died since the proclamation of the date for these elections. It is incidents like this one that increase the risk of observing these elections by also stretching thin our resources as we make calculations about how many and in which areas to deploy election observers.”
Qwabe’s murder has shocked the NFP and has apparently driven many of its candidates in the area into hiding.
While the police said they would need DNA analysis to identify the body found, the NFP insisted it was their candidate, saying his family and community members had arrived while the car was still on fire, and were able to confirm his identity and that of his car.
“We can confirm that an inquest docket was opened, it is alleged that on Monday night, the police had received a complaint of a car on fire and on arrival at the scene they discovered that there was a man inside who was burned. The circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated,” said police spokesperson Thembeka Mbele.
NFP leader Canaan Mdletshe said the party had confirmed that the body was that of Qwabe. He said on Monday night, the community members saw a car burning and when they approached, they identified it as Qwabe’s car and saw him inside. Mdletshe said it was suspected that the car had been set alight to cover up the fact that Qwabe had been shot.
“The community noticed that there was blood in the car and the car had bullet holes and a short distance away from the car, there was blood, it is possible that he was killed and then put in the car and the car set alight.”
Mdletshe said while Nongoma had a history of volatility, there had been no direct threats before Qwabe’s death.
Another leader of the NFP in Nongoma, who did not want to be named, said Qwabe was liked in the community.
“Qwabe was not even a politician, he was a community leader and pastor who happened to love the NFP, he was supporting families financially and recently financed the building of six boreholes so the community could get water. He was a community worker and that is why we as the NFP wanted him to enter the election on our behalf.”
The ANC in the province conveyed its condolences to Qwabe’s family.
The party’s provincial spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said: “What is most concerning and disheartening for the ANC is that the people involved in such murders continue to walk freely on the streets, without being arrested.
“We also call on the SAPS crime intelligence to work hard towards ending these brutal killings.”
THE MERCURY