ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa has instructed law enforcement authorities to find the killers of the governing party's KwaZulu-Natal leaders.

Following a marathon meeting with provincial and regional leaders in Durban on Monday night to discuss‚ among other issues‚ the recent spate of murders‚ Ramaphosa told a media contingent that he was awaiting reports from the police ministry on the murders of local leaders.

"We must find those who are perpetrating these acts of killing against our people. At the same time we want to engage with various communities so that we can form a line of defence against these type of killings‚” he said.

Ramaphosa added that the killings were a matter of national concern.

He said he was looking forward to receiving a report from the Morane Commission - set up to look into politically motivated killings in the province.

Ramaphosa‚ accompanied by national executive members Jessie Duarte and Gwede Mantashe‚ had earlier visited the Pietermaritzburg home of slain ANC councillor Musawenkosi Mqatha Mchunu‚ who was killed by unknown assailants on Friday night‚ a day after he called for the elective conference in the Moses Mabhida region to be postponed.

Mqatha’s death came days after ANC activist Sifiso Cele was murdered on the south coast in front of his family.

Addressing media ahead of the‚ NEC member and manager in the office of the ANC president‚ Zizi Koda‚ said the killings "appeared" to be an orchestrated elimination of ANC leaders.

"It's of serious concern. They appear orchestrated to destabilise the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal‚” he said.

Kodwa said the governing party had convened the urgent meeting to find a solution to issues that posed a threat to the unity of the ANC.

Despite the murders‚ Kodwa said regions due for elective conferences were ready to go ahead.

"It's too early to speculate whether the killings are linked to the conferences. The president is concerned. We can't allow KwaZulu-Natal to go back to what we have seen in the 80s‚” he said.

Greater KwaDukuza was the first region taken to hold its elective conference since Ramaphosa was elected ANC president in Nasrec. It’s conference was held last weekend.

The province has been beset by infighting between pro-Ramaphosa supporters and those who support former president Jacob Zuma.

At the heart of the infighting are factions which existed before the party’s elective conference‚ which resulted in disputes being raised by some ANC branches in the province. There were even suggestions by pro-Ramaphosa supporters for the provincial elective conference‚ which is expected to take place before the end of May‚ to be postponed until after next year’s general elections.

Four regions have been identified by the party as problematic. They include eThekwini‚ Harry Gwala‚ Lower South Coast and Moses Mabhida‚ and have been given the label because of their failure to deal with infighting.

Sihle Zikalala‚ who supported Nkosazana Dlamni-Zuma ahead of Nasrec‚ has emerged as the frontrunner to win the ANC provincial chairmanship. The pro-Ramaphosa faction is believed to support former eThekwini mayor James Nxumalo to rival Zikalala at the conference.