Former South African President Jacob Zuma. (Photo by Themba Hadebe / POOL / AFP)
Months short of three years since the July 2021 riots in KwaZulu-Natal and, to a lesser extent, Gauteng, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has found in its report that there is no evidence of a link between the unrest and the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma.
While the commission found that the events of 2021 “were indeed orchestrated”, it said it had not received any clear evidence of which specific groups or individuals were “primary actors” and that the intention behind the unrest remained unclear.
It did, however, note that delayed and insufficient action by the state was responsible for the escalation in the violence.
“The violence and destruction were symptomatic of unresolved systemic conditions, including post-Covid-19 economic recovery, high unemployment, lawlessness, discrimination, socio-economic divides and issues within the security sector. The commission concluded that organised groups and individuals opportunistically exploited these conditions to attempt to usurp the rule of law.”
The report, officially released on Monday in eThekwini, found that socio-economic conditions in the country played a “major” role in “the spread, extent and scale of the unrest” but were not the cause of the violence.
Instead, “the socio-economic conditions and the disillusionment with the government in its ability to provide better living conditions allowed ‘secondary’ actors to express their exclusion and frustration through participation in the unrest”.
Labelled a “failed insurrection” by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the riots started on the evening of Thursday, 8 July 2021, as Zuma was set to make his way to prison on a 15-month contempt of court charge.
The following day, swathes of KwaZulu-Natal experienced unrest, with roads blocked by long-haul trucks, torched vehicles and burning debris.
By the weekend, thousands of looters — including children — had descended on businesses, factories, shopping malls and warehouses, forcing entry and stealing anything that could be carried or packed in waiting vehicles. ATMs were bombed or removed and rioters tried to disconnect communication systems at the Durban port, while waterworks were also targeted.
Under-resourced and out-manned, the South African Police Service (SAPS) called on community groups to help quell the violence until the defence force was deployed. That deployment, however, came too late, the result of poor communication between the relevant authorities.
By the time troops arrived, much of the rioting had been quelled by residents and community policing forums, working alongside the police, or alone.
Over 300 people were killed in the riots, the vast majority of them criminals who were crushed or who killed each other while fighting over stolen goods, according to KZN premier Sihle Zikalala, in statements made at the time of the unrest.
“The South African Police Service was ill-prepared to deal with the orchestrated attacks. This might include insufficient training, equipment or resources to effectively respond to the situation,” said the SAHRC report.
“The lack of appropriate action in response to the initial signs of unrest led to criminal activities such as theft, arson and malicious damage to property.
“The failure to promptly address and counter digital orchestration and instigation through social media and other online platforms allowed the unrest to grow. This suggests that online communication and coordination played a role in fuelling the violence.
“The working relationship between the minister of police and the national commissioner of police had a negative impact on the collection and sharing of intelligence information and thereby employing the response of the SAPS effectively.”
The commission found that although the riots coincided with the jailing of Zuma, “it could not find evidence to link the two events”.
There was, however, “an intertwining that blurred the lines between where one ended and when the other started”, which had “led many to conclude that the two are related”.
According to the commission, the evidence it gathered pointed to “two types of actors in and during” the riots. “Primary actors, who were well resourced, led and executed the widespread destruction of property and perpetrated arson attacks. They in turn mobilised secondary actors, who participated in acts of theft at malls and other business premises.”
The SAHRC report somewhat aligns with the presidential panel report, released in February 2022, which ripped into the government’s “unequivocal” failure to protect citizens. That report also highlighted bureaucratic bungling and poor or non-existent police intelligence and how factional battles in the ANC had become a “serious source of instability” in South Africa.
In the presidential panel report, it was noted that a State Security Agency (SSA) report that was dispatched to the office of the coordinator of intelligence on 8 July — the day of Zuma’s incarceration — stated “categorically” that no information had been received that Zuma’s supporters would “gather and protest in a specific area in the province”.
But, at the time, social media had been awash with inflammatory remarks directed at those — including the judiciary — who supported the jailing of the former president. Some of those posts came from Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, whose tweets were viewed by many analysts and commentators as inflammatory and in support of the violence.
Addressing the role played by social media in the riots, the SAHRC said in its report that it had “amplified grievances, stoked fear and anger and mobilised individuals towards disruptive actions”.
“It was clear from the evidence obtained that mechanisms to gather information to counter the weaponisation of these platforms are available. However, the responsible entities did not take steps to improve their skills, neither did they have the capacity to do so at the time.”
The commission also highlighted the lack of awareness among the public about responsibility when using social media platforms.
In its numerous recommendations, the commission said that the SSA and Crime Intelligence had to improve their relationships with various sectors in society “to enhance the quality of intelligence gathered” and the management of that intelligence.
Information collection and dissemination should be expedited and enhanced, it said, to address national security threats. Ramaphosa is to provide the commission with a report on how these mechanisms and measures are being developed.
As for the socio-economic factors that played a role in the unrest, the commission said that the government and the state had an “urgent responsibility to address the socio-economic inequalities and the inequalities of access to the economy which are differentiated along racial lines in patterns that are reflective of a racialised economy”.
“The state must take steps to ensure socio-economic transformation of the racial dynamic of the economy.”
The commission also recommended that laws be implemented regarding disinformation and misinformation and that an expert panel be established to address online threats such as incitement to violence, harassment, hate speech and organised criminal syndicates.
Other recommendations included the development and implementation of a national security strategy, improving the security establishment, rebuilding trust in community policing forums, regulating the national security council, transparency in the judicial proceedings of prosecutions and inquests undertaken after the riots and improving cyber-crime prosecution.
The CRL Commission released its report into the unrest at the same press briefing, focusing mainly on the violence in Phoenix, dubbed by some sectors as the “Phoenix massacre”, where some Indian residents were accused of shooting and killing black residents, mostly from Amaoti and surrounding townships, who were not involved in the violence or looting.
CRL chairperson Professor Luka Mosoma said the riots “found a fertile ground to spread mistrust among communities” in the Phoenix area.
“The CRL found that racism is prevalent in Phoenix and surrounding areas and has a negative impact on the lives of African people. Systemic prejudice exists, which continues to marginalise African people.”
Mosoma said the eThekwini economy was “in the hands of Indians … in the hands of one group”.
He said black children “migrated” from Amaoti to Phoenix for schooling and then moved “like ants” back home. There was a perception that black teachers were only fit for teaching Zulu, he said. There were other problems in the area, such as language barriers at the Phoenix police station, where there was a “domination of Indian officers”.
Mosoma said the CRL commission recommended that the department of sport, arts and culture strengthen cultural activities and conflict-resolution programmes using sport.
Programmes that address racism and “mindset changes” must also be encouraged. There should also be “deliberate investment to uplift the lives of African communities in rural and urban areas via legislation and ongoing projects of action”.
Mosoma said the CRL also recommended that the government erect a statue in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the unrest. A “cleansing ceremony” was needed in the area, he added.
In August last year, brothers Dylan and Ned Govender were sentenced to seven years imprisonment for assault and attempted murder for the violent acts they committed during the unrest in the Palmview area in Phoenix.
The brothers, along with others, attacked people who were walking through their neighbourhood. One of the victims, Nkululeko Mangwe, said he was assaulted so badly that he was disabled and could no longer work.
The Govenders were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment for the assault of Mangwe, three years for the assault of Mondli Majola and seven years for the attempted murder of Mxolisi Putuzo.
The sentences are to run concurrently and both brothers were deemed unfit to possess firearms. Leave to appeal their convictions was refused.
The SAPS released a statement on Monday, while the reports were being released, saying it “noted” both.
The police would study the report, said the statement, while highlighting that several critical vacancies within crime intelligence had been filled. The division had also “greatly improved” its ability to detect and collect information.
Other policing improvements since July 2021 were the training and deployment of 20 000 officers and 79 drone pilots.
Public order policing had been significantly beefed up, according to the statement, with 5 000 officers deployed to this unit.
“R150 million was also allocated to procure resources to bolster crowd management equipment for the unit. Training has also been enhanced for members and now includes crowd psychology to improve the management and policing of crowds and gatherings.
“The SAPS has also benchmarked and compared with other police organisations, in terms of use of the minimum force used to disperse large crowds, and found that its current equipment and techniques, such as the use of water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse violent crowd situations, is in line with international standards,” according to the statement.
The treasury initially estimated that the eight days of unrest
shaved between 0.7 and 0.9 of a percentage point off annual GDP growth in 2021. But those estimates did not consider value-chain disruptions or output effects.
The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which represents about 3 000 formal and 54 000 informal sector businesses, told the Mail & Guardian last year that the net cost of the unrest to businesses and the economy in Durban was R12.8 billion.
Value of lost sales and stock amounted to R40 billion, damage to property was R15 billion and the value of lost equipment and machinery R20 billion. Sixteen thousand businesses were negatively affected and 91 000 jobs placed at risk.