At least 43 people have been killed in suspected political assassinations in South Africa so far this year, already exceeding any full-year total since monitoring began in 2015, according to the Geneva-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime. The deaths, mostly in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces, include 13 members of the ruling ANC (African National Congress, the party that led the anti-apartheid struggle) and eight from the MK Party of former president Jacob Zuma, and the group warns the riskiest months are still ahead of local elections on 4 November. The vote will test support for the ANC, which lost its national majority in 2024, ahead of the 2029 general election.