Jason Burke - 'A phenomenon within the ANC': murders turn spotlight on South Africa's ruling party
It is a chilly late
winter afternoon on the hilly uplands of South Africa’s south-western province
of Kwazulu Natal. At a crowded taxi stand near the village of Ibisi four men
wait in a BMW, its engine idling. Sindiso Magaqa, a
35-year-old rising star in the African National Congress (ANC), the party that
rules the district, the province and the country, is driving back to his wife
and three children. He is on home turf but is wary nonetheless. When he pulls
his Mercedes SUV in among the taxis to drop off a colleague, his armed
bodyguard gets out to stretch his legs.
There is a sudden
burst of gunfire, and the waiting BMW roars away. Magaqa’s vehicle has more
than 20 bullet holes around the driver’s door. The young politician is slumped
in his seat. He died of his injuries. A former leader of the
ANC’s youth wing, Magaqa’s murder in September made national headlines. But it
was one of more than 80 “political killings” in Kwazulu Natal in the last six
years. All have been ANC members.
A dozen political
heavyweights attended Maqaqa’s funeral, some arriving by helicopter. They
included a candidate who hopes to be elected party leader at the ANC’s
conference in December, cabinet ministers and top provincial ANC officials. The
dignitaries solemnly praised the dead man, and steadfastly refused to comment
on the reasons for his death. This surprised few
observers. The murders were “a phenomenon within the ANC”, Senzo
Mchunu, a former top ANC official, has said. They underline the failures of
the movement since its then leader, Nelson Mandela, came to power in 1994 in
the country’s first free elections, as well as the challenges it faces.
Xolani Dube, a
researcher at the Xubera Institute in Durban, the biggest city in KwaZulu-Natal
(KNZ), said the deaths were are result of “feuds, resources and tradition”. “These are corruption
killings, not political killings,” Dube said. The most serious
charges levelled against the ANC is that it has become a machine for
self-enrichment. President Jacob Zuma is accused of improper relations with one
of South Africa’s wealthiest business families and last week the
supreme court reinstated 18 charges of corruption against him dating back a
decade. Zuma, who who has faced numerous other corruption allegations
since taking office, has consistently denied wrongdoing.
Ministers are
embroiled in scandals. Provincial officials face allegations of graft. But
there are problems at a grass roots level too. The office
of the public protector, a powerful national ombudsman, and the Hawks,
an elite police team, are now investigating the fraud allegations.
Magaqa was a
councillor of Umzimkhulu municipality. The town is little more than a strip of
cash and carry stores, petrol stations, fast food outlets, a mall and a sprawl
of poor government housing surrounded by the rolling grassy mountains. A
fast-running river drains rain water to the Indian Ocean 100km away. “Sindiso was very
vocal about things that were not right in the municipality and he knew people
wanted to attack him. He was very brave and very committed, to his voters and
the party,” said Dr Vuma Magaqa, an uncle... read more:
