Security companies, community policing forums and the police have drawn up contingency plans to stop looting and public violence. (Guillem Sartorio/AFP)
A Soweto community leader told the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Thursday that it was “immoral” for police to confiscate fresh food, perishables and liquor from households and shacks in the township because residents were suspected of taking part in the July riots.
“How do you dispose [of] fresh foods while we have millions that go to bed on an empty stomach?” was the rhetorical question posed by Themba Makhubelo during the ongoing probe into the violence and looting.
“How do you explain the situation where a policeman or woman confiscate[s] a half bag of mealie meal, used cooking oil … and after that … disposes [of] or burns that food … it might be legally correct to do so, but it was immoral in the eyes of Africans,” he said.
The SAHRC began its hearings into the riots in November in KwaZulu-Natal, which was particularly badly affected by the unrest. The commissioners have since moved to Gauteng for the second leg of the hearings. Looting and destruction also took place in that province, but on a much smaller scale.
Makhubelo said it “was shocking” for the Soweto community to see “police, JMPD [members] … going to our houses and shacks [belonging to people who] were suspected to have participated in the looting and recovering liquor and perishable goods.”
The “overwhelmed” police have been severely criticised for their inadequate response to the eight days of violence, which cost the South African economy R50-billion and left more than 300 people dead — the majority of them looters killed in the scramble for stolen goods, according to authorities.
Although police were mostly absent during the riots, they were seen after the dust had settled, ransacking homes and hostels searching for looted goods and firearms, in operation “Reclaim the Loot”.
Makhubelo’s opening statement on Soweto spoke of high unemployment, inadequate housing and how as far back as the 2008 xenophobic attacks — which he called Afrophobia, because most victims were black and poor — the police had not offered much in terms of assistance.
Intelligence was already on the ground before the unrest, said Makhubela, and “leaders did engage … or warn authorities about this imminent threat but nothing was done”.
He also bemoaned the police service for not honouring its constitutional mandate to protect communities.
“We were not surprised by the lack of proper and co-ordinated response on that fateful day from police because it’s what our community is subjected to daily,” he said.
Asked what justice would look like for his community, given the scale of the riots and the poor police response, Makhubelo said it was “not accessible … We feel that justice wasn’t done in terms of protecting us during the unrest. The state did not execute its responsibility of protecting its citizens and property”.
Tshidi Madisakoane, a representative of the Bahlali-Baduli Soweto Housing Committee, had similar sentiments.
She testified that there is a police station between the hubs of Meadow Point and Ndofaya Mall, yet, when the riots ensued, “there were no police personnel that could go and assist. Police stations operate 24 hours but unfortunately there wasn’t any help”.
In the face of many businesses being forced to close down after the unrest, Soweto continues to feel the pinch months down the line, Madisakoane said.
Residents found themselves having to take taxis into town or the suburbs for basic provisions. “Imagine the whole of Soweto flocking to Westgate or Southgate during the Covid-19 lockdown? It wasn’t good and financially it was bad.”