THERE was a significant intelligence failure by the police and crime intelligence to anticipate, prevent or disrupt the orchestrated violence that broke out during the 2021 July unrest.
This is according to a report by a panel of experts appointed to investigate the July 2021 riots.
On Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised the release to the public of the report of the expert panel appointed in August 2021 to review government’s response to the July 2021 unrest.
The president appointed the panel experts following a spate of orchestrated public violence, destruction and sabotage in July 2021.
According to the panel’s report, the police and intelligence services failed to predict the nature, scale and modus operandi of the July violence.
“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,” said the report.
“It is not clear why this was so, but one of the reasons may be that at least six members of the senior leadership of CI were suspended in the period leading up to the outbreak of the violence. It would be difficult for an organisation that had been hollowed out in that manner to rise to the occasion in times of crisis.”
The panel added that there is no doubt that the police had insufficient capacity to stop the violence.
“The riots happened simultaneously in areas that are distant from each other. They took a form generally unfamiliar to the police, where large crowds descended on shopping malls and warehouses, to loot. The size of the crowds made it impossible for the police deployed to prevent the looting,”the panel found.
“Moreover, there were members from across social groups involved: young and old, mothers with babies, and the police were in a dilemma about the degree of force they should use. In one instance the crowd used a hijacked Pick-It-Up waste management truck to ram down a gate that the police had secured. Once the gate had crashed the crowd climbed on the truck and started pelting the police with all sorts of objects while advancing towards them. The police had no option but to withdraw.”
According to the report, the violence that broke out in July 2021 can be viewed in the context of multiple crises and challenges facing South Africa, key among them being:
• The weakness of State institutions generally, a phenomenon that has been referred to as the hollowing out of State institutions
• high unemployment, with youth unemployment above 70% and no consistent, continuous plan to address this challenge;
• inherited high levels of poverty and deep inequality; • poor spatial planning, leading to overcrowded and unsuitable living conditions for many, with informal settlements emerging in crowded urban spaces as people move to the cities in search of opportunities;
• rampant corruption at various levels of government;
• the phenomenon of sponsored State Capture, as understood in the South African context.
• the frustrations caused by the Covid-19 restrictions, adding to the feelings of despair among the population.
- * Inside Politics
