Ramaphosa to account for govt’s response to July unrest at SAHRC hearing

The chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) Andre Gaum has announced that President Cyril Ramaphosa will be invited to appear before the commission’s hearing into the July 2021 unrest that erupted in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, to account for government’s response.

Gaum said Ramaphosa is expected to appear before the commission in April during the third round of testimonies following the completion of the second leg that focused on events in Gauteng. 

Gaum also announced that the the commission is expected to start working on the finalisation of its report. 

“Considering the extent to which human rights were impacted during the events that occurred between the 8th and 19th of July 2021 in the provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, the commission exercised its constitutional and statutory mandate to investigate the causes of unrests as well as the impact on human rights,” said Gaum. 

The hearing panel has heard testimonies from survivors, various community members, industry players in commerce, private security and state officials as well as high-profile polititians including Ministers Bheki Cele and Ronald Lamola.

ALSO READ: Poor service delivery at the core of July unrest 

The hearing, according to the SAHRC, is a matter of national concern and involves various rights, such as that to “security, the right to be free from all forms of violence, the right to not to have one’s possessions seized and the right to life”. 

The commission received R3 million from Treasury to probe the cause of the unrest and produce a report. 

Earlier in February, the report of a panel of experts appointed to look into, among other things, the cause of the riots which swept through the two provinces, concluded that catastrophic failures by the police, 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. 

“Our Constitution is founded on the principle of accountability. The Commission’s mandate is, among others, to monitor and assess the observance of human rights in the Republic. Ultimately it falls on the Commission in terms of the Constitution of the Republic to investigate and report on issues where human rights have been violated and to take steps to secure appropriate redress,” Gushwell Brooks of the commission said. 

The second leg of the hearings started on 21 February and ended on Friday, 4 March, with the third leg expected to resume in April.