Hawks arrest 15 suspects over political killings

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation told Parliament on Tuesday that it had made 15 arrests in relation to killings believed to be political during the local government election period.

The killing of Democratic Alliance councillor Johannes Baaitjies in Groenwater of the Northern Cape the day before he was to be sworn in as mayor of Kgatelopele Municipality is just the latest killing which many fear is related to the politics of this month’s local government elections. A suspect took to the dock at the Postmasburg Magistrates Court on Monday in connection with Baaitjies’ death.

Councillor candidates were killed in the run-up to the local government elections around the country‚ especially in KwaZulu-Natal.

Hawks boss Berning Ntlemeza told Parliament’s portfolio committee on police that 15 arrests had been made in matter related to political killings.

He said nationally‚ 18 cases had been reported:

KwaZulu-Natal: 13

Eastern Cape: 2

Mpumalanga Province: 1

North West Province: 1

Northern Cape: 1

When asked about how the Hawks determined whether the killings were politically motivated‚ Ntlemeza said the cases were determined as political killings by observers and that the Hawks did not formally recognise political killings as a crime category.

“Not all of these cases are political murders. In some you will find that there is a quarrel of some kind. But it is a term that South Africans refer to when elections were getting nearer‚ especially if it emerges that one person involved is a politician from one party and the other is from another party‚” said Ntlemeza.

The SA Police Service is due to update Parliament’s portfolio committee on Police on Wednesday morning about the election-related protests in Tshwane and other hotspot areas around the country.

- Tiso Black Star Group Digital/BDLive