Smoke rises from a Makro building set on fire in Umhlanga, north of Durban.
- The Hawks have made 68 arrests following the July 2021 unrest but haven’t achieved any convictions yet.
- The police presented an update to the Portfolio Committee on Police on Wednesday.
- The committee is considering deferring its own investigation into the unrest until after next year’s elections.
More than two years after violent unrest swept through KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in the aftermath of former president Jacob Zuma’s incarceration, the Hawks have not achieved a single conviction.
The police presented a progress report and implementation plan following a report from a panel of experts President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed to probe the reasons behind the July 2021 unrest to the Portfolio Committee on Police on Wednesday.
The panel found the following: “The police failed to stop the rioting and looting in July 2021. The reasons for this failure are complex and sometimes not of their making. In some instances, they did not get any intelligence upon which to plan operations.”
The panel found that the unrest took the police, who were inadequately prepared, by surprise, leaving them flatfooted, and with “crowd control equipment” running dry, they could not adapt their tactics.
READ | Police, intelligence failed to stop July unrest – but executive also to blame, report finds
According to the police’s presentation, the panel made 34 recommendations, of which 18 apply to the police.
They have thus far implemented 11, six are in the process of being implemented, and one “cannot be implemented at this time”.
Furthermore, the Hawks have been conducting 11 investigations, leading to the arrest of 68 people. However, this has not resulted in any convictions yet.
Four of these cases are with the National Prosecuting Authority for decisions.
Included in the 68 arrested persons is a police officer based in Durban, who was arrested for incitement of violence. The police’s internal disciplinary matter against this member is still pending.
READ | Phoenix brothers plan to appeal conviction and sentence for death of teen during July unrest
In the aftermath of the violence in 2021, the committee, then chaired by late ANC MP Tina Joemat-Pettersson, vowed to launch its own inquiry. By December of that year, the committee decided to defer its own investigation until the panel and the South African Human Rights Commission’s investigation, whose report is expected by the end of this year.
The panel’s findings and the HRC’s hearings have proven embarrassing for the Ramaphosa administration, in particular Police Minister Bheki Cele. At Wednesday’s meeting, the committee’s new chairperson, ANC MP Nocks Seabi, mooted deferring the committee’s investigation to the Seventh Parliament, or in other words, until after next year’s election.
“Based on the current status of the Human Rights Commission’s report, and the pressures on the rest of the parliamentary programme, until we rise next year, we should consider transferring the inquiry to the Seventh Parliament, as the remainder of the Sixth Parliament does arguably not allow for sufficient time to deal with an inquiry of this extent and complexity,” said Seabi.
DA MP Andrew Whitfield said:
It is important that we understand the frustration that members of the public will feel.
He suggested that the committee first ascertain whether it wouldn’t be able to conduct its investigation before the Sixth Parliament rises, which is expected to be in early March.
Seabi agreed. The committee will decide at its next meeting.
The Constitution obligates the National Assembly to scrutinise the executive’s actions.
The Zondo Commission into State Capture rubbished the notion that Parliament can’t conduct its own investigations while other authorities are also probing the matter.