concerns of violence as the country heads to election
Incidents of intra-party political tensions are raising fears of violence as the country heads to the local government elections on November 4. There have been intra-party public clashes in the ANC, NFP, and MKP, with party members exchanging blows in some cases. Ordinary party members have expressed fears that the situation could become more violent as the elections draw closer and the process to nominate new councillors intensifies.
Political analyst Musa Xulu warned that the skirmishes indicate despair. “Many would-be councillor candidates see being a councillor as more of a form of employment, rather than service to the public. This underlines the state of high-level unemployment and growing poverty in the country.”
In the ANC, several videos have surfaced showing people in ANC regalia exchanging blows. The Mercury understands that in some of these videos, the meeting had been called to discuss a candidate for a new councillor, but it deteriorated into violence. A video recently emerged of an ANC meeting in the Kokstad area that degenerated into violence. In the video, one of the men is severely assaulted and left bleeding on the floor; it is not clear from the video what caused the incident.
