WATCH LIVE: Ramaphosa to testify at July unrest hearing

Almost eight months after parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng were ravaged by mass looting and protests, dubbed as the ‘July 2021 unrest’, President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to give evidence at the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) National Investigative Hearing into the matter.

The president is expected to take the stand at 9am.

Violent protests and looting broke out in KZN and parts of Gauteng in July last year after former president Jacob Zuma began a 15-month jail term for contempt, after disobeying a Constitutional Court order to appear before the State Capture Commission of Inquiry.

The SAHRC said the president will appear before the Hearings Panel and will give testimony in relation to his responsibility as the head of state.

The hearing panel – which is conducting hearings in KZN and Gauteng – has heard testimonies from survivors, various community members, industry players in commerce, private security and state officials as well as high-profile politicians including Ministers Bheki Cele and Ronald Lamola.

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The Commission began investigative hearings to exercise its constitutional and statutory mandate in relation to the causes of the unrest as well as the impact of the unrest on human rights.

During the unrest, Ramaphosa blamed the riots and looting “ethnic mobilisation”.

But he later backtracked after being roundly criticised, and said the violence was a “failed insurrection” against the state.

A report of a panel of experts, appointed by Ramaphosa in August 2021 to review government’s response to the unrest, concluded that catastrophic failures by the South African Police Service (Saps), intelligence structures, and the executive to quell the violence resulted in destruction and looting, which wiped R50 billion from the economy, left more than 354 people dead and scores others injured.

Furthermore, it found that internal ANC battles have now become a matter of national security and a serious source of instability in the country.

Along with inequality, poor service delivery, high unemployment levels, the culture of violence and the looting bonanza of state resources, all combined have created the perfect breeding ground for future violent outbreaks of this scale.

Compiled by Narissa Subramoney

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