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The City of Johannesburg holds an Extra-Ordinary Council Meeting on July 25, 2024.
Six City of Johannesburg ward councillors have recently opened cases with the police after receiving life-threatening messages.
The City’s Chief Whip, Sthembiso Zungu, says in less than two months, two ward councillors were fatally shot, prompting the City to convene an urgent meeting to look into measures to protect the City’s councillors.
One of the councillors was buried on Saturday after he was shot outside his home in Soweto in May.
Zungu, who was also shot at several times early last year, believes ward councillors are being targeted.
“We have issues regarding projects in Johannesburg where there’s a belief that councillors are in charge. So if a bidder is not elected to work on the project, they in turn get aggressive and target the councillor, believing that they had an influence in the decision-making process. I was shot at, yet I had protectors, your safety is not guaranteed just because you’re guarded. We really to intensify law enforcement because as we speak, I have a list of about six councillors that have received threats on their lives, but we’ve opened cases.”
The Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg Dada Morero has expressed concern over the spate of killings of ward councilors.
— SABC News (@SABCNews) June 21, 2025
