PRETORIA, GAUTENG — The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has strongly condemned the ongoing councillor killings and warned of escalating political violence ahead of local government elections. As the nation gears up for the polls, the organization has highlighted the severe vulnerabilities and threats faced by municipal leaders during this critical democratic period.
Speaking on the escalating threats, SALGA spokesperson Motalatale Modiba detailed the association’s tracking mechanisms, specifically the municipal violence incident reporting dashboard developed in collaboration with the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). According to Modiba, the data reveals a consistent pattern of political violence, intimidation, and unrest that typically surges during candidate selection processes, campaigning, and the contestation of election results.
While Modiba noted that there is not necessarily a sudden, massive uptick in incidents over the last few weeks, the expected seasonal patterns of election-related violence are already emerging. The dashboard reveals a grim historical context: since the year 2000, there have been over 400 verified incidents directly linked to political violence. A significant number of these incidents, particularly between 2000 and 2018, resulted in the loss of life.
The spokesperson emphasized that political violence extends far beyond the highly publicized councillor killings. The verified incidents include countless reports of attacks on councillors’ homes and vehicles, property damage, physical assaults, and severe intimidation. Modiba warned that this pervasive violence has a detrimental effect on local governance, as it discourages capable and skilled individuals from stepping forward to serve their communities out of fear for their personal safety.
To combat this threat, SALGA has been actively sharing intelligence with law enforcement agencies and other key stakeholders through intergovernmental platforms. The association is advocating for tighter security measures and necessary legislative reforms to safeguard the local government sector, noting that communities ultimately pay the heaviest price when skilled service delivery personnel are driven away by violence.
Modiba outlined several urgent interventions required from the police and the justice system to curb the violence. These include a faster police response rate, increased visible policing in identified hotspots, and rapid investigations. Furthermore, SALGA is calling for swifter and stricter prosecutions for perpetrators, stressing that a lack of quick legal consequences creates an environment of impunity where offenders believe they can evade justice.
