EDITORIAL | If parties don’t get rid of their thugs, political killings will continue

Pieces of the puzzle are still being put together after the brutal murder of ANC Tshwane councillor Tshepo Motaung on Friday, but it is becoming increasingly clear that politics and internal party power struggles were at play.

Outside Motaung’s home on Tuesday, as a high-level government delegation visited, one party member, Patrick Kabini, made perhaps the most telling comment since the ward 22 councillor met his end in a hail of at least 20 bullets.

According to Kabini, on the morning of the shooting Motaung had been confirmed as the party’s preferred candidate for the ward in the November 1 local government election. A few hours later, he was dead. The two events, he suggested, were linked.

“It doesn’t take a scientist to figure out that if someone is killed, automatically someone must follow him to be the [new] councillor candidate. That’s why we are saying the murder might be politically related,” he said.

If Kabini’s assessment is correct, it speaks volumes on how the contestation for power, access to resources and proximity to contracts that comes with holding office within the ruling party continues to be deadly. Certainly, for Gauteng premier and ANC bigwig David Makhura, this was a factor in the killing.

“From what we see in this [Motaung] case, it is linked to matters of political contestation,” he said.

In the context of other hits on politicians, he added: “The incidents are also linked in great detail to infrastructure projects to build schools and clinics, and fix roads in Tshwane.”

While Cele might say that those involved in Motaung’s killing will be treated as criminals, it is vital that any political links are thoroughly explored.

He called on police minister Bheki Cele to treat Motaung’s slaying — and others in recent times — in the same way political violence in KwaZulu-Natal has been handled.

In KZN, Cele’s home province, the Moerane commission of inquiry into political killings (which came with a R15m pricetag and concluded in 2018) found there was overwhelming evidence that access to resources through the tender system was the main cause of the murder of politicians.

Another recommendation was that political parties take responsibility for the violent competition between their members for political positions and power.

Recently we have seen multiple officials, up to and including mayors, hauled before courts to account for their alleged roles in manipulating contracts and tenders.

It is clear many of those wanting power and prominence, who are eyeing seats on local councils or want to hold influential party positions, are doing so because they want to enrich themselves or those around them — and are seemingly prepared to go to violent lengths to make it happen.

While Cele might say those involved in Motaung’s killing will be treated as criminals, it is vital any political links are thoroughly explored. Failure to do so will ignore the largely underlying problem that threatens more bloodshed, particularly as the ruling ANC begins to come under increasing pressure from opposition parties and an apparent decline in support, notably at local government level.

For its part, the ANC needs to ensure it rids itself of criminal elements who want to take advantage of the state’s coffers for personal gain. If it fails, more blood will be shed.