July unrest in numbers: Arrests, court cases and investigations

Police Minister Bheki Cele on Friday said 19 people have so far been arrested in connection with instigating the violence and looting in July last year.

The upheaval left South Africa in chaos as riots spread throughout KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng after former president Jacob Zuma was imprisoned.

Hawks investigations

Speaking at the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster briefing on Friday, Cele said 19 people were arrested for the unrest. He added that the Hawks have 86 more people that are of interest to their investigations.

Defence Minister Thandi Modise earlier said that the Hawks are actively investigating eight of the 19 people that were arrested.

Court cases

Since the riots rocked South Africa, 2,435 cases have been added to the court roll, with 50 of those cases resulting in a guilty verdict, added Modise.

Focusing on Phoenix – an area of KZN that saw high levels of violence, often between neighbours – 164 cases have been investigated, leading to 69 being arrested.

Modise said 36 of those arrests were for the murder of 35 people in the area. Another 31 were arrested for attempted murder.

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Arrests

Modise said more than 8,000 incidents were reported to the police, which led to at least 5,000 people being arrested. Of those arrests, more than 2,900 cases were closed as undetected or unfounded.

The cases included incitement to commit public violence, murder, attempted murder, arson, malicious damage to property, possession of suspected stolen property, damage to infrastructure and culpable homicide.

After announcing the steps South Africa’s security cluster has taken to prevent this type of unrest occurring again, Modise said “the country should not be subjected to the level of anarchy and destruction we witnessed last year”.

Modise said the suffering is still keenly felt by many South Africans a year after the riots took place.

“The pain and distress caused by, and to, many citizens remain very fresh in our memory,” said Modise.