OPINION| What lies behind social unrest in South Africa, and what might be done about it

JUSTIN VISAGIE, IVAN TUROK and SHARLENE SWARTZ|

SOUTH Africa has among the highest recorded levels of social protest of any country in the world. The reasons behind this are more complex than often assumed.

The scale and severity of the looting and sabotage in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng in July, following the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma, has brought social protest and civil unrest into the popular discourse.

But much of the commentary on the July riot – which cost over 300 lives and billions of rands in damage to the economy – has neglected the long history of violent protest in the country. The truth is that, while disgruntlement by Zuma’s supporters was the trigger, the roots of social unrest go much deeper.

What is more, the available data shows that the number of protests in South Africa has been steadily rising over the past 20