The madness of tit-for-tat political violence has resurfaced in KwaZulu-Natal and must be stopped before the general elections next year.

The madness of tit-for-tat political violence has resurfaced in KwaZulu-Natal and must be stopped before the general elections next year.

Jacob Zuma played a significant role in ending the bloodbath that engulfed the province about a decade ago.

His amenable character and obvious charisma earned him the political capital he traded on to take the national stage. Now he will be forced to reprise that role if he hopes to establish himself as our national leader.

Unfortunately, the political hotheads most closely associated with his cause are today the folks most closely associated with the revolutionary rhetoric of violence.

And it will take only one small spark to set the tinderbox alight once again in KwaZulu-Natal. For though political violence was capped in the province, it has never been eliminated.

Year after year we have read reports of councillors being assassinated by political foes. Local rivalries between the IFP and the ANC run deep and still split families and whole regions.

Whatever side you stand on, we must all agree that political differences in our modern democratic state can no longer be settled in what came to be regarded as legitimate means in the struggle.

For the sake of us all, Msholozi, sir, stand up and help end this madness now.