GAUTENG – A gunman killed four members of the ANC Youth League during a memorial service in Katlehong on Tuesday, adding to a wave of political violence that has claimed at least 43 lives ahead of next month’s local government elections.
The attack happened at a memorial service for another ANC member in Katlehong, southeast of Johannesburg. Two men died at the scene and two others in hospital. The victims were aged between 21 and 27.
Three other people remain in hospital, police said on Wednesday.
The alleged attacker turned himself in to police, who have assigned the case to a special Political Killings Task Team. The ANC Youth League confirmed the suspect is not a member of the youth league, the ANC or any of its alliance formations.
Record year for political killings
The shootings come as South Africa records its worst year for political violence in more than a decade. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) documented 43 people killed in 45 suspected political attacks between January and the end of September this year.
This total already exceeds every previous full-year count since monitoring began in 2015. In 2021, when the country last held local elections, 30 people were killed. The 2024 national election year saw 33 deaths, while 31 people were killed in 2025.
The violence has affected multiple political parties, including the ANC, MK Party, EFF and DA. Victims have included ward councillors, party officials, traditional leaders and political activists.
Deadly voter registration weekend
June was the deadliest month, accounting for 12 of the 45 political incidents recorded by GI-TOC. The voter registration weekend of 20 to 21 June saw multiple campaigners killed in targeted attacks across four provinces.
ANC ward councillor Sicelo Mleve was shot dead in his ward office in Zwide, Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape during that weekend. ANC branch executive member Vukani Majozi was killed outside his home near Chatsworth, south of Durban, on the same weekend.
Two MK Party members, Mozwakhile Zungu and Siyabonga Mabaso, were killed after leaving a voter registration site in Bekkersdal on Gauteng’s West Rand during the same period.
The MK Party has lost at least eight members to political violence this year, according to the GI-TOC report.
Government response
Police arrested seven suspects in connection with political killings by early August, according to the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS). The government briefing said the Political Killings Task Team, established in 2018, has arrested more than 400 suspects since its formation, including more than 180 alleged hitmen.
In August, Gauteng’s Political Killings Task Team arrested two suspects in the murder of ANC ward 10 councillor Thabang Masemola, who was killed in Mamelodi East in July 2025. Three arrests were made in the murder of EFF member Aaron Makola.
NATJOINTS has pledged to provide a safe environment for the 4 November local government elections. Cabinet has condemned the killings and called for political tolerance.
Violence beyond traditional hotspots
While KwaZulu-Natal has historically been the centre of political violence in South Africa, the 2026 killings have spread to other provinces. Cases have been recorded in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
The South African Local Government Association has called for political killings to be treated as priority crimes, noting that threats, intimidation and killings intensify around election periods.
Analysts say the motives for political killings are not always clear but could include internal party rivalry, battles over political positions or attempts to influence tender processes and corruption networks at local government level.
The GI-TOC report, released in early October, warned that the highest-risk period was still ahead as competition for political power intensifies in the final weeks before the 4 November elections.
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