South Africa: Four members of the ANC youth league killed in a shooting

Four members of the youth league of the African National Congress (ANC), the party in power in South Africa since 1994, were killed in a shooting on Tuesday night, three weeks before the municipal elections, police and the party said on Wednesday.

The assailant, who surrendered to police, opened fire on people who had just attended the funeral of a local ANC representative killed last week. The shooting took place in Katlehong, southeast of Johannesburg.

Although the suspect's motive is currently unknown, the investigation has been entrusted to the police unit specializing in political assassinations.

In the first nine months of the year, 43 politically motivated homicides were recorded in South Africa by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC). This count already exceeds the figures of previous election years, such as the 2021 municipal elections or the 2024 general elections, according to the international organization.

These targeted assassinations may be motivated by the desire to eliminate a candidate from another party or a rival within one's own camp, in order to secure, for example, a position as a city councilor, considered lucrative.

In a statement confirming the deaths of its four members, the ANC youth league stressed that, according to its information, "the suspect is not a member of the ANCYL or the ANC".

ANCYL is the youth wing of the ANC, the party that led the fight against apartheid and has governed the country since the first multiracial elections in 1994.

Accused of poor governance and tainted by corruption scandals, the ANC lost its absolute majority in the 2024 general elections, forcing it to form a coalition government.