Pietermaritzburg – A bodyguard of the Msunduzi municipality speaker was shot dead by two suspects on Wednesday morning, KwaZulu-Natal police said. 

The bodyguard, 30, was travelling in a municipal vehicle in Caluza near Pietermaritzburg when multiple gunshots were fired at him, police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said in a statement. 

Mbhele said the bodyguard was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

The motive for the killing is unknown. No arrests have been made. 

More than 40 people have been killed in politically motivated shootings in KwaZulu-Natal since 2016, according to a community rights activist who has kept a detailed log of killings linked to the notorious Glebelands complex of hostels. 

In September, former ANC Youth League secretary general Sindiso Magaqa died at the Albert Luthuli Hospital from gunshot wounds he sustained in a suspected ambush in July.

He was the fourth political official to die in the Umzimkhulu municipality this year. 

Political analysts who testified at the Moerane Commission into political killings said most deaths were related to competition over political positions.

The commission, set up by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Willies Mchunu, is investigating underlying causes of political killings in KZN from 2011 until this year.