CAPE TOWN, Wednesday 26 August 2026 — The South African Police Service cannot provide Parliament with comprehensive figures showing how many political killings have been recorded since 2020 or how many have resulted in arrests and convictions, exposing a data gap as concerns over election-related political violence increase.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia disclosed the limitation in response to a parliamentary question seeking a provincial and annual breakdown of politically linked killings.
MK Party MP Crossby Vusi Shongwe had asked the minister for the number of cases registered since January 2020, together with figures for arrests, prosecutions, convictions, acquittals and outstanding investigations.
Cachalia said the South African Police Service did not have the capacity to provide the requested consolidated information.
The disclosure is significant because political killings have become an increasingly prominent security concern ahead of the 4 November municipal elections.
Independent tracking by Julian Rademeyer of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime recorded 26 deaths in suspected political hits during 2026 by 14 August.
Rademeyer said his research indicated that 56% of nearly 200 suspected political killings recorded since 2000 occurred during election years.
The victims tracked this year have been associated with several political parties rather than a single organisation, including the ANC, MK Party, EFF, DA, IFP and BOSA.
Not every killing involving a politician or party member is necessarily politically motivated, and police have repeatedly cautioned that motive must be established through investigation.
The problem has nevertheless intersected directly with the municipal election campaign.
Four political party members were killed during the June voter-registration weekend, including a DA by-election candidate in Cape Town, an ANC councillor in the Eastern Cape and two MK Party members on Gauteng’s West Rand.
The Political Killings Task Team was brought into those investigations.
Police have also recorded recent investigative successes.
Earlier this month, the Gauteng Political Killings Task Team arrested suspects in separate cases involving the killings of ANC councillor Thabang Masemola and EFF member Aaron Makola.
The latest concern is in Knysna, where Cachalia visited this week following three politically linked killings, including former mayor and councillor Aubrey Tsengwa and former councillor Mandla Matiwane.
Cachalia received a briefing on the investigations and met relatives of the victims during his visit on Tuesday.
The inability to produce consolidated national data creates a separate policy problem.
Without consistent information showing where political killings occur, how cases progress and how frequently prosecutions succeed, Parliament and the public have limited ability to assess whether interventions such as the Political Killings Task Team are reducing the threat.
The issue is likely to become increasingly important as candidate lists are finalised and campaigning intensifies ahead of the November vote.
