A resident passes the Russia, or R Block, of the Glebelands hostel, consisting of 71 blocks and about 22,000 residents, and allegedly a haven for hitmen who operate through out the province of Kwazulu-Natal, on September 23, 2017 in Durban. In the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, local politics is a deadly game, with at least 40 people killed in politically motivated shootings since last year. / AFP PHOTO / RAJESH JANTILAL
ZUMA: Succession Battle Hots Up in KwaZulu-Natal
Ahead of the conference of the African National Conference (ANC) to choose a new leader when Jacob Zuma steps down in December, the Kwazulu-Natal province is already simmering with blood.
At least 40 persons have been reportedly killed in politically motivated shootings since last year in that province.
Deadly violence has spread across KwaZulu-Natal and much of the killing can be traced Glebelands hitmen at Durban 71 lawless hostel blocks which is home to about 20,000 people, often crowded into decrepit accommodation, sleeping more than 30 to an apartment and sharing a single toilet, says a report.
KwaZulu-Natal is the ANC’s heartland. Whoever controls the province could determine the party’s next leader from December.
In the run-up to the party conference, few weeks go by without an ANC provincial official or elected councillor being murdered in the struggle for power, jobs, money and lucrative government contracts.
The victims are gunned down in their cars, shot dead outside their homes or killed at public events, but the police and authorities seem helpless.
When former ANC Youth League secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa died in September after being shot 15 times in an ambush in July, his family laid the blame squarely with the party.
“We love [the ANC] but when they do this‚ we are scared… Everything points to December,” Magaqa’s uncle said at his funeral.
The culture of violence in KwaZulu-Natal was graphically demonstrated recently by an internet video of two bodyguards of an ANC regional secretary bragging they were about to kill someone.
“Hitmen here are being used by the politicians,” one Glebelands resident, a father of five dressed in a grey tracksuit and sitting under a bullet-scarred shelter, told AFP.
“It looks like we have no government. We have been forgotten,” said the 48-year-old man, adding that giving his name would put his life in danger.