Ramaphosa promises 'consequence management' after July unrest investigations

President Cyril Ramaphosa has told the SA Human Rights Commission hearings that those responsible for the July 2021 unrest will be held to account.

“There will be consequence management on conclusion of all investigations under way looking into wrongdoing within law enforcement and intelligence agencies,” he said.

Ramaphosa was giving evidence to the panel, sitting in Sandton, Johannesburg, on his responsibility as head of state.

“We need to rethink the role of the private security industry, particularly as this relates to supporting the SA Police Service.”

The government was prioritising the development of a national security strategy.

“For one week and one day in July 2021 we stared into the heart of darkness. We watched in horror as parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng were engulfed in violence, looting and destruction.

“We saw scenes of homes being ransacked and destroyed, and shops, businesses and warehouses being looted and torched, and of people being beaten and humiliated.

“We felt the greatest sense of betrayal that there were among us those who would go so far as to plot to destroy the country we have spent the past 28 years building.”

He repeated his statement of July 16 2021 that the events were “nothing less than a deliberate, co-ordinated and well-planned attack on our democracy ... intended to cripple the economy, cause social instability and severely weaken — or even dislodge — the democratic state”.

“There is the economic cost of more than R50bn that was wiped off our economy and the livelihoods of those who looked on helplessly as their businesses were damaged or destroyed. There is the cost to the families of those who lost their lives and those who were injured.”

The “chaos was used as a smokescreen to carry out acts of economic sabotage such as attacks on trucks carrying goods, raiding and torching shopping malls, factories and warehouses, and the blocking of roads and highways vital to economic activity.”

“The fundamental cause of this unrest was a deliberate decision by certain individuals to instigate, co-ordinate and incite widespread destruction of property, violence and looting. The identity of these individuals and the motives for their actions are the subject of ongoing investigations and legal proceedings.”

Socioeconomic conditions also played a role. “There were likely criminal elements stoking the flames in the seemingly well-organised targeting of factories and warehouses, but also in the violence that broke out between communities in KwaZulu-Natal.”

The government has acknowledged that “we were poorly prepared for an orchestrated campaign of public violence, destruction and sabotage of this nature”.

On August 5, Ramaphosa appointed an expert panel to review the government’s preparedness and the shortcomings in its response.

Remedial action

“To deal with the problems that affected our state of readiness and response to the unrest, government has taken decisions regarding the intelligence services and police.

“The work of strengthening the capacity of the justice, crime prevention and security cluster is ongoing. We have begun the process of filling vacancies in the State Security Agency.

“We will promulgate regulations that will require the intelligence structures to provide intelligence to the National Intelligence Co-ordination Committee, so that intelligence is shared and used, properly and timeously, by relevant structures.”

The government will ensure that the National Security Council (NSC) meets at least every two months. The staffing and training of the public order policing unit will be improved.

“The minister of police and the SAPS will be required to submit an updated report on the status and functionality of community policing forums to the NSC at its next meeting.”

More than 300 people died and businesses were looted in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng after the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma.

The commission has heard evidence from the police, the defence force and the State Security Agency, among others. Community leaders and families of those who died have also testified.

The expert panel’s report said the government failed to adequately protect citizens. It ignored warning signs, there was no clear police mandate and unemployment, reports of government corruption and Covid-19 regulations also played a part in the unrest.

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