JOHANNESBURG - The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) is calling for tougher action to prevent political violence ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
The call follows at least four politically linked killings reported during the recent voter registration weekend.
SALGA spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said there are a myriad of factors
“Political parties have got a role to play, the law enforcement agencies have got a role to play, civil society have got a role to play.
“So if we're going to then eradicate these incidentse of violence that always flare up whenever we go into this type of democratic processes, whenever we have elections around and so forth,” Modiba said.
According to Modiba, much more need to be done to conscientize society in terms of participation.
“But ultimately, we cannot rule out the issue around tightening law enforcement because without that, even if we have got all those other measures in place. The biggest deterrence for crime is when people know that there are consequences and those consequences will be felt immediately,” said Modiba.