The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party is mourning the death of regional organiser Lastborn Shazi, who was shot dead at his homestead in Umzumbe, KwaZulu-Natal, on Monday night. He was taking part in a virtual meeting to prepare for the local government elections when the attack happened, just a day before voters go to the polls.
The party’s provincial spokesperson, Mkhuseli Mlangana, said there are no leads in the case. He urged members to avoid speculation while police investigate the circumstances of the killing.
“We are trying to avoid speculation”
Speaking to the public broadcaster on Tuesday morning, Mlangana offered condolences to Shazi’s family. He said the party does not yet know what led to the shooting and does not want to guess.
“As of now, there are no details that we know as far as the circumstances around the killing of Comrade Lastborn,” he said.
He explained that the party had appealed to its members to hold back, given the province’s record of political violence. “You would know the history of KwaZulu-Natal around the killing matters,” he said, adding that the party would share information once it knows what really happened.
Asked whether anyone had witnessed the shooting, Mlangana said the party is not aware of any witnesses.
A meeting cut short
According to Mlangana, the party received news of the shooting shortly after 9pm on Monday. At the time, Shazi was meeting online with the regional elections team to finalise plans for election day.
Shazi suddenly stopped taking part in the meeting. Soon afterwards, the others in the session received a phone call telling them about the shooting. The party then sent a team of local leaders to the homestead, where they were told that Shazi had died.
Police have not yet said whether any arrests have been made or what motive they are looking at. The circumstances of the killing remain unclear.
A province with a history
KwaZulu-Natal has long been associated with political killings, and the MK Party has repeatedly voiced concern about attacks on its members. In August, the party urged the Political Killings Task Team to investigate a series of member deaths after founding member Douglas “Mfene” Thusini was shot dead near his home in KwaMashu. The task team has also been working on a June ambush of MK Party Ilembe District secretary Zanele Mbhamali and her husband.
There is nothing in the reports so far to link Shazi’s death to those cases, and the party itself has said it does not want to draw conclusions.
Special voting under way
Shazi’s killing comes while special voting takes place on Monday and Tuesday, ahead of Wednesday’s 2026 local government elections. A total of 2,655,067 voters have been approved for special votes. These include people who cannot reach voting stations because of illness or disability, and registered voters who will be away from their wards on election day.
Of those approved, 678,525 voters will receive home visits, while 1,976,542 will vote at their registered stations. Gauteng has the largest number of approved special voters at 480,721, followed by the Eastern Cape with 401,971 and KwaZulu-Natal with 348,971.
On Wednesday, about 29.2 million registered voters are expected to take part in the elections.
For now, the MK Party says it will wait for the police investigation before saying more.