Three suspects appeared in the Knysna Magistrates Court this afternoon in connection with the murder of former mayor, Aubrey Tsengwa. The fourth suspect handed himself over to police in nearby Plettenberg Bay on Monday morning.
The case has been postponed to 31 August for bail information and outstanding identity parade.
Tsengwa was shot and killed on Wednesday night. In less than 24 hours two more ANC members were shot and killed on Thursday night.
Speaking to VOC FM, Political analyst, researcher, and political science lecturer at Walter Sisulu University, Professor Mbasa Mvenene says these kind of assassination or killings are something that we see that tend to be on the rise during election periods.
“I think we see this at a rise specifically at moments when parties have to choose candidates internally, and so I think the research, I mean my own work as well, has established that there is a relationship between election periods and a rise in these kinds of targeted killings during election periods. Although there has not been or I have not seen concrete evidence that clearly categorizes these killings as political killings. I think we see all of the clues that point us to textbook or typical political killings during election years. I believe we all know that it’s all this intensifying competition for deployments into municipal council, “said Mvenene.
Mvenene added that what we are seeing in the Western Cape is scarce economic opportunities which municipal politics become a link to livelihoods.
“I mean, we are not exactly seeing what we see in KZN. Of course, KZN I believe, is a national leader in terms of these kinds of targeted attacks. And I don’t think we are seeing that already, at least within the Western Cape. I think that what we are seeing here is, is scarce economic opportunity. So, when we experience scarce economic opportunity, then municipal politics become a link to livelihoods, because becoming a councillor does not necessarily mean public service in a context of scarcity. It simply means access to a job, it means securing a livelihood, it means influence over municipal budgets, it means potentially improper influence over municipal tenders,” he said.
Photo: Facebook page of Cllr Jason White
