Worsening Violence as the Election Comes Closer

25 October 2026
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

Worsening Violence as the Election Comes Closer

Our country is one of the most violent in the world, worse than some war zones. The rate of violence against women and the rate of murders committed by young men against other young men are among the highest in the world. There is violence in the home and in communities, violence from ordinary people, politicians, criminals and the armed forces in service of the state and the rich.

Our country and its people have been deeply damaged by generations of oppression, which has continued into the present for many people, especially the poor. The ANC has never pursued a project of healing, a project of restoring the humanity of our people and our society. They have just made themselves rich, leaving most of us poor and living in a broken society, a broken society in which the poor continue to be ruled with violence.

Things are getting worse. In KwaZulu-Natal armed mobs now parade through the streets accompanied by the police. People have been driven from their homes and livelihoods, assaulted and killed. The rise of the right, including violent fascist organisations, is a matter of grave concern for our movement and all people of good conscience.

As the election approaches, violence is worsening. So far 43 people have been killed, including people from the ANC, IFP and MKP. The political killings that are taking place are another grave concern for our movement. In a free, democratic country everyone should be free to campaign for election without fear. We know very well that the killing will not be confined to politicians. As killing becomes more common, more and more activists will be targeted in the years ahead.

Right now, the atmosphere in Durban is particularly threatening. Political intolerance has reached a fever pitch. The danger can be felt everywhere. Many politicians and parties have been complicit, and none have built a project in support of healing and a just peace. People are being assaulted and sometimes beaten to death in the streets. The political assassinations continue and will continue after the election as the politicians fight for power and money.

While the situation is at its worst in Durban and KwaZulu-Natal, it is moving into other parts of the country. ANC people have been killed in Katlehong.

People are being encouraged to hate, attack and kill as the election comes closer. But elections come and go. Every time there is an election, politicians come into our communities with promises, food and t-shirts and then they leave. We don’t see them until the next election comes. To them we are voting fodder, people who can be lied to and bribed, and not citizens of a democracy, or even just full human beings.

We have had elections for more than thirty years and the poor remain poor and without land, water, sanitation, electricity and housing. Our dignity continues to be vandalised by the state and the organised power of the rich. We continue to live with our suffering. This election will not resolve any of the problems that we face, and yet we are being encouraged to hate, attack and kill, and to support politicians and parties that are encouraging hate and are involved in political violence.

We cannot now glorify elections as the only thing that can resolve our problems and ensure that our dignity as human beings is recognised. Elections can be important, but all our advances as a movement and as a class have come from building our own power, popular democratic power. We must never allow politicians to divide us. We must never be divided by people who only come to our communities to lie to us when they seek power and then leave us poor and oppressed.

After careful discussions, we have agreed to encourage our members, and others who look to our movement for political direction, to vote according to their conscience if they wish to vote, but not to support those who have disappointed and betrayed them in the past, and who have made the poor suffer for more than thirty years. They must not vote for people who are trying to divide the poor with ethnic politics and political intolerance, for the corrupt who steal from the poor or for people who are xenophobic. They must not vote for any politicians or parties that encourage hate and violence.

When this election has passed, the oppressed will remain oppressed, there will be greater political intolerance and our society will be even more violent.

It is essential that all people of good conscience work together to build a culture of peace, to work towards a just peace, and for the oppressed to organise themselves and work together to build a fair and just society in which the dignity of every person is recognised.

Thapelo Mohapi 084 576 5117
Sinenhlanhla Mcanyana 073 832 3331
Mqapheli Bonono 073 067 3274