2021 RIOTS
SA Human Rights Commission finds violent July 2021 riots stoked by agitators, not poverty
A 252-page report by the SA Human Rights Commission into the July 2021 unrest, released on Monday, has concluded that the acts of vandalism and destruction were ‘orchestrated’ by actors who were ‘well-resourced’. Their identity, however, remains mysterious.
There was a “significant investment” in the “execution” of the July 2021 riots.
This is one of the major findings of a report released by the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Monday following on from public hearings held in the wake of the unrest almost three years ago.
The violence which broke out in the wake of the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma for contempt of court in 2021 left more than 350 people dead and caused an estimated R50-billion in damage.
After considering the evidence presented, the SAHRC has concluded that, in particular, the damage to infrastructure in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July 2021 was “orchestrated”.
The “blocking of the N3 and the N2, the calculated destruction of factories and warehouses, the organised disconnection of security and fire alarm systems, the attack on government communication facilities at the Durban Port, and the bombing and removal of ATMs” cannot be seen as unconnected events, the commission’s report has found.
Read more in Daily Maverick: July 2021 unrest instigator Mdumiseni Khetha Zuma sentenced to 12 years in jail
The report points to “primary actors” as having led the destruction of infrastructure and property, and having “mobilised” what the report refers to as “secondary actors”, who “participated in acts of theft at malls and other business premises”.
Critically, however, the SAHRC findings stop short of identifying either specific individuals behind the unrest or the purpose of their actions.
“The commission did not receive clear evidence identifying specific groups or individuals as primary actors,” the report states.
“While evidence pointed to high-level orchestration, the common purpose or intention behind the unrest remained unclear”.
Looters in Spine Road behind the Pavilion Mall in Durban on 12 July, 2021. (Photo: Gallo Images / Darren Stewart)
Neither Zuma nor poverty strictly to blame
The report acknowledges that “the socio-economic conditions of the majority of South Africans” were a “major factor” in the spread of the unrest.
But it states that these conditions were “not the cause”.
In addition, the SAHRC has found that “while the timing of the events of the July unrest coincided with the incarceration of former President Jacob Zuma”, there was insufficient evidence to “link the two events”.
What, then, has the human rights body concluded lay beneath the extraordinary explosion of violence and destruction in mid-2021?
“It is probable that the unrest was undertaken to destabilise the economy,” states the report — but adds that only the South African Police Service (SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)) will ultimately be in a position to “make a conclusive finding regarding the orchestration of the unrest”.
The SAHRC’s failure to make a conclusive determination as to the real cause of the unrest is likely to frustrate many. DM
This is a developing story.
Not worth the 252 pages it’s written on…
Agree…..not a word about Zuma’s siblings, whom not ever he knows how many there are
The time, effort and money spent on these ‘findings’ were a total waste of taxpayer resources, unfortunately.
Now this and the Guptas are two matters worth spending money on and investigating and prosecuting, yet neither will happen while we waste money elsewhere…
Very disappointing. “The commission did not receive clear evidence identifying specific groups or individuals as primary actors”. Well, how about starting with those who encouraged the carnage on social media. You have enough evidence of that, so prosecute them and others will think twice before doing it.
They could start by interviewing the Zuma girl, she was very active on social media.
The Commission is quick to pounce on any remotely “racist” comment on social media – the Vicki Momberg incident is a case in point.
In this matter of national importance, the Commission acts like it’s never heard of Twitter/X or FaceBook. Strange behaviour, indeed.
Goodness me, does SAHRC have any purpose whatsoever
There were undoubtedly instigators, orchestrators and/or “primary actors”, but they were only exploiting the predisposition of thousands and thousands to loot and pillage when the threat of punishment has by and large been removed. How many actual looters were brought to book. We all recall video footage of many such being caught in the act or for later being in possession of stolen loot. What happened to them?
Four coal
Well.. that was a waste of time.
What a joke …when the answer is in plain sight
Vote DA
Flip side: Someone is going to sulk once he finds out that it wasn’t all about him 😉
In a way, it does diminish his delusion that he is all-powerful?
So are we now going to see the zuma clan who encited the riots arrested and jailed ?
Probably not, they get to say, do and be as they are, with impunity, the untouchable elite! No accountability, no consequences, ever!
No sense of commitment !!
Just like the ANC !!!!
Overthrows of the government are rehearsed (according to Timothy Snyder). This then is worrying. We’ve had Bellpotinger go to work on us. We’ve had the July riots. If the ANC ever finds itself with credible opposition, who knows what they will do. Or what they will do to even prevent that day from coming.
I listened to an interview today that explained it is all a complete mystery. Just like chairman Wiese termed Steinhoff collapse a bolt from the blue
They could not relate the riots to the imprisonment of zuma – despite half an acre of social media posts invoking this as the cause worth fighting, stealing and dying for.
I give up. A few thousand people decided to sommer just start burning looting and rioting, well, because what else is there.
The SAHRC is a weak wateredown institution compromised by ANC cadre deployment like so many other institutions in South Africa. The LPC, HPCSA, SAHPRA, and CSA all rendered useless organization by ANC cadre deployment.