Durban - A man was shot dead and an ANC councillor and two others were wounded during a party branch meeting in Welbedacht, near Chatsworth, on Wednesday night.
Councillor Mthembeni Shezi, of ward 72, and the branch chairman suffered serious gunshot wounds and were admitted to the ICU at RK Khan Hospital.
A third party member was shot in the leg. The fourth died while being taken to hospital.
eThekwini Speaker, Logie Naidoo, said they were in a meeting when two gunmen entered and started firing.
A casualty officer confirmed that one person was shot in the chest and arm, and another in the head. Both were taken to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital.
Transport Department spokesman Kwanele Ncalane said that MEC Willies Mchunu condemned such criminal acts.
While motives were not known, Ncalane said party-related crimes were well organised and difficult to monitor.
The shootings follow several political murders, the most recent being the killing of Dumisani Malunga and Bheki Chiliza, the chairman and branch secretary of the ANC Oshabeni branch on the South Coast, earlier this month.
Sifiso Khumalo, an ANC Youth League branch leader in Oshabeni, was sentenced to 22 years in jail.
In August, ANC councillor Jimmy Lembethe of Estcourt was murdered, his 11-year-old son was burnt with boiling water and his wife and five-year-old daughter were shot and injured.
In June, ANC councillor Wandile Mkhize in Margate was killed.
At least 30 politically motivated killings have occurred in KZN in the past four years. - The Mercury