GUNMEN KILL FOUR IN S.AFRICA 'S ZULU PROVINCE .
DURBAN , South Africa 1996-12-06
At least four people have been shot dead in two suspected political attacks in South Africa 's volatile Zulu heartland , police said on Friday .
A police spokesman said two youths believed to be supporters of President Nelson Mandela 's African National Congress ( ANC ) had been killed when unknown gunmen opened fire at the rural settlement of Izingolweni on KwaZulu-Natal province 's south coast on Thursday night .
The victims were 18 and 20 , he said , adding one other youth had been wounded in the shooting .
In another attack , also on the province 's south coast on Thursday night , two men were shot dead near Umkomaas .
" We suspect that these killings are linked to politics , " spokesman Bala Naidoo told Reuters .
There had been no arrests .
The killings came just hours after violence monitors said they were not optimistic of a peaceful festive season in KwaZulu-Natal and pointed the south coast region where 18 people were massacred last Christmas as one of potential hot spots .
They said the recent lull in political feuding could be upset as thousands of migrant workers , some tense with grudges brewed in the cities and keen to settle old scores , flock back to their home villages .
More than 14,000 people have lost their lives in over a decade of political turf wars between the ANC and Zulu Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi 's Inkatha Freedom Party in the province .