Rising tide of violence against South African municipal officials and councillors

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South Africa continues to grapple with a troubling trend of violence targeting municipal officials and councillors, with a significant number of murders recorded across provinces over the past five financial years. According to official data, 37 municipal officials and 59 councillors were murdered during this period, reflecting a concerning threat to local governance and public administration.

Murdered Municipal Officials (2019/20 – 2023/24)

A total of 37 municipal officials were killed, with the distribution across provinces as follows:

Province 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 Total
Eastern Cape 0 1 0 2 0 3
Free State 0 1 0 0 2 3
Gauteng 0 0 5 4 2 11
KwaZulu-Natal 3 3 3 5 3 17
Limpopo 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mpumalanga 0 0 0 1 1 2
North West 0 0 0 0 0 0
Northern Cape 0 0 0 0 0 0
Western Cape 0 0 0 1 0 1
Total 3 5 8 13 8 37

KwaZulu-Natal emerged as the epicentre of these killings, with 17 incidents, highlighting its status as a hotspot for violence against local government officials.

Read the full story on ProtectionWeb here.