‘I went to speak with the old man’: Cele says there were signs of unrest before Zuma’s arrest

The South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) investigative hearings in the July riots got underway on Monday, with Police Minister Bheki Cele taking the stand.

The SAHRC is conducting a national investigative hearing into the devastating riots that swept through parts of Gauteng in July 2021.

The hearings are set to continue until 4 March.

While the focus will be on Gauteng this time, the SAHRC is also expected to hear evidence stemming from the hearings conducted in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) between 15 November and 3 December last year.

The 8 to 19 July riots resulted in more than 330 people losing their lives, and cost R25 billion in damages.

The violence was ostensibly sparked by the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma.

‘I went to speak with the old man’

During Monday’s proceedings, Cele continued with his testimony explaining to the SAHRC that his role as minister is not operational, however, he is present at times for oversight purposes.

“When police have operations sometimes I am physically there, [but I do] not lead those operations [and] not telling police what to do,” he said.

Cele explained that he could see the build up to the violence even before Zuma’s arrest hence this is the reason why he visited the former president’s home in February last year.

“I went to speak with the old man [and] it [was] famous that Cele [was] having tea in Nkandla. It was part of seeing if things can’t be stopped before they reach a breaking point because you could see that they were going there.

“When the Constitutional Court took [the] decision [that Zuma] was going to be incarnated… that was clear,” he said.

ALSO READ: Cele to unrest inquiry: I don’t recall seeing top cop Sitole in the ‘right places’

“The arrest of the former president was one of those things that ignited what was happening. Maybe another thing we can further speak about were the preparations [of the police] because [there was no] form of information or intelligence that would have helped to mitigate what would have been expected to happen,” Cele continued.

Cele yet again said that he did not recall receiving any intelligence report from the South African Police Service (Saps) Crime Intelligence division as well as the State Security Agency (SSA).

“I don’t [about] other people and other structures, but personally I don’t remember any form of intelligence coming to me, but I would argued that preparation would have been better,” he said.

He also said the gatherings at Nkandla and calls to protect Zuma on social media were signs the unrest was coming.

The minister previously criticised national police commissioner General Khehla Sitole and Saps’ crime intelligence for failing to provide him with intelligence reports on the riots.

Amid the unrest, President Cyril Ramaphosa came out boldly tothe incidences as a “failed attempted insurrection”, while also acknowledging government’s unpreparedness for the riots.

This was very different to the statements made by former Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and former State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo, who insisted that the violence had nothing to do with a coup or an insurrection, thus, publicly contradicting the president’s stance. 

Cele and Dlodlo were at odds over whether Saps was provided with intelligence reports about the riots.