Violence has become normalised in KwaZulu-Natal and is linked to the rise of political and social intolerance.
This was according to academic and activist Professor Richard Pithouse who testified before the Moerane Commission investigating political violence in province on Thursday.
He said while KZN had been the epicentre of violence, which stems from the political strife in the province in the 1980s and 1990, it had also spread to other provinces.
He warned that the violence had become normalised and those who had the capacity for violence used it to secure leadership positions."Those with the capacity and shall I dare say taste for violence are moved to the forefront."
He also said that he has seen the rise of political intolerance and intolerance of different views.
He said there was an incident while attending one of the community meetings where one of the people criticised other members of the community at that meeting for allowing Indians and Amapondo to being part of that meeting.
"We had never seen something like that before," said Pithouse.
Pithouse also mentioned that groups like Abahlali Basemjondolo were often not treated fairly by authorities and that once at a housing meeting Abahlali leaders were called criminals.
The commission continues.