SA’s current state could trigger another round of ‘July riots’

Residents of KwaZulu-Natal are still picking up the pieces a year after the mass looting, which broke out in July 2021.

On Friday, the justice, crime prevention and security cluster gave an update on the unrest in July 2021 that brought KZN to a standstill – when angry people took to the streets to burn down buildings and loot businesses.

Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Thandi Modise said the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was ready to support law enforcement agencies to deal with any threats to the security and stability of the country.

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“The SANDF will continue to be on standby, in support of the police, to protect all national key points, as well as economic corridors of the country from any disruption or blockages.”

But security expert Dr Johan Burger was not that positive.

He said SA was sitting with a “combination of factors” that made people unhappy and created a “breeding ground for rebellion”.

“Everyone is oppressed and tension is at breaking point. This country is ripe for a nationwide uprising. The climate is ideal for that,” he said.

“If you look at last year’s riots, there was clear speculation that something was brewing but the system wasn’t geared to react,” he said.

Burger said apart from unrest about high prices brewing, a group of instigators in solidarity with former president Jacob Zuma added to the tension.

“That’s where the [2021] insurrection came from. It was a combination of a situation that was brewing all along, with factors such as rising levels of unemployment, poverty, and lack of services,” said Burger.

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Police at the time were not ready to act on the unrest caused by instigators who want to exploit the unhappiness, he said.

“The army had to be deployed because there were simply not enough police. The situation this year is everything that happened in July last year,” Burger said.

He added the socioeconomic factors were still present and were now worse.

“Unemployment is rising and poverty is growing. People are now more unhappy than in the past,” Burger said.

Snenhlanhla Mcanyana from the Salt Rock informal settlement in KZN said they were still suffering.

“Everything is going up. We are starving because food is going up. Even the petrol price is up. That’s more suffering,” Mcanyana said.

She said she doubted the people would loot again soon.

“Since then, we are suffering. Some of the shops damaged are not open yet.”

Mcanyana said she knew some people who were arrested last year for looting.

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“They were locked up for two weeks and then released,” she said.

Juahandrie Kean said the Storage City in her neighbourhood was damaged last year.

“It’s down the road from here. The looters got in from the back and started looting the storage units,” she said.

Kean said she was happy when it was rebuilt earlier this year.

There were concerns of another unrest with the threat of another national shutdown looming due to the recent fuel increases.

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