The growing violence within and between political parties ahead of local government elections is concerning but must be considered in context‚ the deputy minister of the department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs says.
Speaking at an Institute of Security Studies (ISS) seminar on violent protests in Pretoria on Wednesday‚ the department’s deputy minister Andries Nel said this violence infringes on the rights of South African citizens who should vote in a free and fair election on August 3.
Thirteen African National Congress (ANC) leaders and members have reportedly been killed in KwaZulu-Natal in the past four months.
In recent incidents‚ on Monday a ward councillor candidate in Umuziwabantu Municipality‚ Bongani Skhosana‚ was shot dead in front of a group of children while he was transporting them to school. Khanyisile Ngobese-Sibisi‚ another candidate‚ was shot and killed in Ladysmith on her way to a Nelson Mandela day event.
Nel said that while the government was concerned about this‚ it was important to consider the violence in a greater context of an increasing voters’ roll and 1‚2 million new voters in 2016.
Nel said that most of the violence seen this year‚ in places like KwaZulu-Natal and Tshwane‚ was severe but isolated to those areas.
He said the same can be said for the incidents of violence that unfolded at voting stations over registration weekends earlier this year.
“There are 22‚662 voting stations. The problems that occurred probably affected less than 100 stations. But where there were problems they were very very violent‚” he said.
Nel said that the country’s increasing violent protests cannot be pinned down to local government issues only.
He said that South Africa’s real problem was its ailing economy‚ which has bred the socio-economic circumstances that cause violent protests in the first place.
“I would argue that the effect of the 2008/9 crisis would probably be a determining factor when it comes to protests. I don’t foresee us getting totally out of the woods until South Africa’s economy is out of the woods.
“We have to restructure our economy quite fundamentally. We need an economy that is creating jobs‚ not growing for the sake of growing‚” he said.
Manager of the ISS Crime and Justice Information Hub Lizette Lancaster said that it is always a combination of triggers‚ like failed infrastructure‚ poor access to resources and distrust in official authorities‚ that lead to protests turning violent.
Ailing economy contributing to election violence - Politician
The growing violence within and between political parties ahead of local government elections is concerning but must be considered in context‚ the deputy minister of the department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs says.
Speaking at an Institute of Security Studies (ISS) seminar on violent protests in Pretoria on Wednesday‚ the department’s deputy minister Andries Nel said this violence infringes on the rights of South African citizens who should vote in a free and fair election on August 3.
Thirteen African National Congress (ANC) leaders and members have reportedly been killed in KwaZulu-Natal in the past four months.
In recent incidents‚ on Monday a ward councillor candidate in Umuziwabantu Municipality‚ Bongani Skhosana‚ was shot dead in front of a group of children while he was transporting them to school. Khanyisile Ngobese-Sibisi‚ another candidate‚ was shot and killed in Ladysmith on her way to a Nelson Mandela day event.
Nel said that while the government was concerned about this‚ it was important to consider the violence in a greater context of an increasing voters’ roll and 1‚2 million new voters in 2016.
Nel said that most of the violence seen this year‚ in places like KwaZulu-Natal and Tshwane‚ was severe but isolated to those areas.
He said the same can be said for the incidents of violence that unfolded at voting stations over registration weekends earlier this year.
“There are 22‚662 voting stations. The problems that occurred probably affected less than 100 stations. But where there were problems they were very very violent‚” he said.
Nel said that the country’s increasing violent protests cannot be pinned down to local government issues only.
He said that South Africa’s real problem was its ailing economy‚ which has bred the socio-economic circumstances that cause violent protests in the first place.
“I would argue that the effect of the 2008/9 crisis would probably be a determining factor when it comes to protests. I don’t foresee us getting totally out of the woods until South Africa’s economy is out of the woods.
“We have to restructure our economy quite fundamentally. We need an economy that is creating jobs‚ not growing for the sake of growing‚” he said.
Manager of the ISS Crime and Justice Information Hub Lizette Lancaster said that it is always a combination of triggers‚ like failed infrastructure‚ poor access to resources and distrust in official authorities‚ that lead to protests turning violent.
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