- Nearly a year after MKP member Thokozani Nzuza was shot dead near Soweto’s Dube Hostel, no arrests have been made, and the case has been reassigned.
- MKP alleges an IFP-aligned hostel induna disrupted its campaign rally before an armed attack killed Nzuza, but the IFP denies the incident was political.
- MKP has established a presence at Dube Hostel and other Gauteng hostels, having outpolled the IFP 9.79% to 0.87% in the May 2024 election.
- For more political news, visit News24 Politics.
Almost one year ago, in November 2025, MK Party (MKP) member Thokozani Nzuza was gunned down close to the Dube Hostel in Soweto, an electoral fortress that was previously perceived to belong to the IFP.
Nzuza was killed after visiting the Jabulani local police station, where he had been to report the near-fatal shooting of his two comrades who were part of a contingent that campaigned in the IFP stronghold.
The IFP insists that no political violence happened at the hostel, and that Nzuza’s body was found on an open field near the hostel.
The hostel was built in October 1956 under the apartheid government’s hostel system to accommodate black migrant workers from rural areas who worked on temporary permits in the inner city.
Similar to the disruptive and dramatic fashion in which it debuted in electoral politics, the MKP has been operating from Dube Hostel and other hostels across Johannesburg since then.
READ | Three men convicted of killing IFP branch secretary Mthokozisi Sithole
In the May 2024 election, the MKP secured 9.79% of the vote while the IFP managed just 0.87% in Gauteng. It outpolled the IFP in Gauteng by more than 11 to one, reflecting its ability to draw support from Zuma-aligned ANC defectors and disillusioned voters in the province’s urban townships.
The IFP, by comparison, had been shrinking, having lost ground in its traditional bases in recent years, both in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
The arrival of MKP caused tensions at the hostels, particularly at the Dube Hostel. On Sunday, 23 November, these came to a head, leading to a shooting that claimed the life of at least one MKP member, according to police and an official party statement at the time.
News24 visited the Dube Hostel this week and saw MKP posters bearing mayoral candidate Bongani Baloyi’s image, indicating the MKP’s presence there.
Political violence
From what News24 was able to discover, neither the provincial government nor police acted on the alleged political violence even though they expressed concern after Nzuza was gunned down. Both the IFP and the MKP said this week that they had received no information from the police.
While MKP remains convinced that the killing had political motives, the IFP says that the dispute was interpersonal and involved two people with a long-running dispute.
For MKP members, it is still fresh in their minds.
Speaking to News24 on the sidelines of an MKP event on 6 October, provincial convener Wonder Nkosi echoed provincial task team member Dumisane Ntuli and a previous statement by his predecessor, Abel Tau.
Tau’s statement called for the arrest of hostel dwellers “who shot and injured three of its members who were out recruiting for the party” on 23 November 2025, as well as political freedom to campaign.
“Upon arrival [at the hostel], they were met with hostility from the ‘induna’ (chief) at the hostel, who is an IFP supporter. This induna privately organised for electricity to be cut off so as to ensure that the MKP members would not be able to connect their PA system and continue with their programme of action on the day,” an MKP statement said at the time.
“When MK Party members demonstrated readiness for this programme by employing a portable generator to connect their PA system, then two attackers, one male and one female, approached them. The male attacker shot at our members, injuring two of them at the scene, while the female attacker used pepper spray to disperse the gathered crowd.”
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However, IFP Youth Brigade Mlungisi Mabaso, in an interview with News24, dismissed this version of events, saying the person actually died on a field nearby and not at the hostel.
Mabaso, who lives at the Dube hostel, said his party decided not to respond to MKP’s allegations when the fight occurred because they were untrue and the IFP had been focused on campaigns.
He said the party would sue the MKP if it continues with the claim that there was IFP-led political violence on the day in question.
Mabaso said: “Who died? We responded, asking them to produce proof of any person that died. Nobody died inside the hostel.”
He said the body of an “MK person” was found in a nearby open field, but “it was not related to that clash which happened”.
Responding to the IFP’s claim to News24 that the Dube hostel incident was unrelated to political violence, Ntuli said: “When the IFP says this is not related to that, it is not telling the truth.
“They were saying they cannot allow the MK to campaign because we took their support in the May 2024 election. That’s where the whole thing started. We were on the campaign doing a recruitment drive at the hostel. We brought food, but the IFP said: ‘Get out, we don’t want the MKP here.’ We told them this is a free country; that’s when a lady started pepper-spraying our members.”
READ | 1 dead after alleged political clash between MKP and IFP at Dube hostel in Soweto
Despite the unresolved matters, the MKP says it is making inroads in Gauteng’s hostels and that they were a key part of their strategy.
News24 visited two hostels in Soweto and Jeppe men’s hostel in Johannesburg this month and in September, where placards of the MKP, ANC, and even the EFF could be seen.
Asked whether the two parties had sat down since, Mabaso said: “It was not even a clash that required a sit-down. When two parties meet during the campaign, it’s not a clash that you can really meet to discuss. One group was going towards one direction, and the other was going towards another direction. There was never a fight.”
This is despite an outdated police statement to News24, issued by spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi, which announced an attempted murder case opened for further investigation.
“The complaint alleges that they were conducting a recruitment drive at Dube Hostel when they saw two people arguing,” Nevhuhulwi said.
“As she approached them, she heard gunshots and saw one man falling down. The circumstances of the shooting are subject to police investigations, and no one has been arrested as yet.”
A day later, the then-MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela announced that the complainant, one of the Dube Hostel leaders – who is aligned to the party and who reported the shooting – was shot dead at his home in the hostel.
News24 sought an update from Nevhuhulwi in 2025, and again this week, but he had not responded at the time of writing.
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Dismissing claims of some hostels being “no-go zones”, Mabaso said parties, including the MK Party, campaigned at the Dube Hostel during the last Independent Electoral Commission voter registration drive.
He said he does not remember there being a meeting between the two parties.
Without providing any numbers, Nzimande told News24 the MK Party now exists in most Gauteng hostels and is “making inroads”.
“With my knowledge, the MK Party goes to that hostel and other hostels. We have izindunas there at the Dube Hostel,” Nzimande said.
Asked what the issue could have been at the Dube Hostel, he referred to past wars and said: “It was all about saying, ‘The MK must not come in here. The IFP is ruling that hostel’.”
He said most of the hostels are still led by the IFP.
Meanwhile, Ntuli told News24 that a senior cop on the Political Killings Task Team had informed them that the case had been reassigned to another unit.
Soyiso Maliti
www.news24.com
