Johannesburg – The deadly riots that rocked South Africa after ex-president Jacob Zuma was jailed last year exposed significant intelligence lapses by the police, according to an inquiry released on Monday.
Security forces were overwhelmed by the July 2021 violence, the report found, in what was deadliest unrest of South Africa’s democratic era.
The report is the result of an inquiry by a government-appointed panel into the handling of the riots, and was made public by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday.
“There was a failure by the intelligence structures to anticipate and respond adequately to the violence,” it found.
ALSO READ | Death toll climbs to 72 in South Africa #Zuma riots
It said the intelligence services “failed to predict the nature, scale and modus operandi” of the violence while at the same time, the police had “insufficient capacity” to curb it.
Rampaging mobs overran dozens shopping malls and warehouses, carting away large flat screen television, refrigerators, leather couches and cartons of fresh meat.
Some even hammered down automatic teller machines and emptied them of cash.
“The police admitted that the large numbers were overwhelming,” it said.
The unrest broke out after Zuma was jailed for contempt over his refusal to testify before a commission probing state corruption during his reign.
ALSO READ | SA looters leave stripped shelves and the question: ‘Why?’
The rioting and looting started in his home region, KwaZulu-Natal, before spreading to Johannesburg.
More than 350 people were killed and some 50 billion rand ($3.2 billion) wiped off the economy.
The riots were largely organised by protesters on social media, the panel found.
The methods used by protesters, including widespread and simultaneous looting and the burning of buildings, took the police “by “surprise”.
Police failed to “adapt their tactics to the situation facing them”, the report said, adding they were “inadequately equipped and they ran out of crowd control equipment”.
“There is no doubt that the police had insufficient capacity to stop the violence,” it said.
Days into the unrest, Ramaphosa deployed around 25,000 troops before order was restored.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
