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Durban - The ANC’s military veterans say they want to help the authorities stop the political violence in KwaZulu-Natal that has so far claimed the lives of 12 party members.
"The information will be shared with law enforcement agencies. We do not plan on killing anyone," Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association provincial chairperson Themba Mavundla told reporters in Durban on Monday.
The intention was to stop further murders and help police track down killers.
Twelve African National Congress members, most of them women, had been killed in what are believed to be politically motivated killings in the province ahead of the August 3 local government elections.
At the weekend, the party buried two members killed on July 18, Mandela Day. Bongani Skhosana, a Ward 1 candidate in the Umziwabantu municipality, in the Lower South Coast region, was killed in his car, in front of his children. He was about to take them to school.
Speculation
READ: 'I'm a dead woman walking' - ANC councillor in KZN
Later that day, Khanyisile Ngobese-Sibisi, 41, was shot while on her way to donate goods at a Mandela Day event in Ladysmith.
The ANC has established a commission of inquiry to investigate the murders. Police Minister Nathi Nhleko also established a special task team, and a provincial multi-party task team was working on solving the killings.
The scale of the threat was why MKMVA was helping government agencies, Mavundla said.
Mavundla said the association would no longer fold its hands "in the face of the calculated targeted campaign to deprive the ANC of its democratically-elected leadership".
He did not want to speculate on who was behind the killings.
"I am not sure whether these people want to be councillors that bad, but we are aware that during the nomination process there were challenges and some of the processes were manipulated in a bad way. It does not give the right for anyone to kill anyone."
Mavundla expected that the killings would continue, and escalate, after the August 3 elections.
"We are facing dangerous criminals, but I promise you that they won’t be successful after we have activated our members. We are certain of victory. We can never be intimidated by criminals. We will deal with them harshly."
MKMVA members would monitor voting on August 3, he said.
"We are jealous of the voting process because we fought for it and our members died to ensure that people be allowed to vote."
- Find everything you need to know about the 2016 Local Government Elections at our News24 Elections site, including the latest news and detailed, interactive maps for how South Africa has voted over the past 3 elections, or download the app for iOS and Android.
