Morderstwa na tle politycznym w RPA - Redux

UMZIMKHULU, KZN, SOUTH AFRICA, November 29th, 2017 - Mduduzi Tshibase, 39, an ANC councillor from the Umzimkhulu municipality was gunned down when he got out of his car to open the gate to his homestead in Gigwini. Three of his four children are now being raised by their grandmother and brother. Since the provincial government established a commission of inquiry into the political killings in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province in March of this year, an estimated 13 ANC members have been gunned down in apparent hits. Since the start of 2016 more than 40 people with political affiliations, the majority ANC members, have been murdered. Gunmen, often working in teams of three or four, attack individuals by targeting known routines or killing people inside or near their homes. There have been no convictions or arrests by the police. The reasons behind these killings are layered and complex, often relating to battles for influence over lucrative municipal tenders. However, since there have been no judicial actions to bring killers to justice, the motives may never be determined with certainty. For now, ANC members are once again dying in the historic Killing Fields of South Africa, two weeks before the party elects its new president. Those in positions of political power live in daily fear. For the families of the murdered, it is not just the trauma of loss and violence that haunts them. For most, the deceased was the primary breadwinner in the household. The influence of these assassinations extends deep into rural communities where often as many as ten dependents have not only lost their father, mother, son or daughter, but their only opportunity out of poverty.