Three ANC Activists Slain Before Elections

Three activists for South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party have been slain in KwaZulu-Natal province four days ahead of elections, police said.

The men, all ANC activists, were abducted after a church service on Friday and were later found shot dead.

Authorities could not say whether the killings were political, but they are sure to raise tensions as the ANC fights for KwaZulu-Natal, the only province it does not control, with the Inkatha Freedom Party.

Thousands died in fighting between the two parties from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Now a peace pact that brought the IFP into the national government and helped keep violence to a minimum in the 1999 elections is unraveling.