Cape Town – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has conceded that law enforcement could have done better in responding to the violent situation in the country when it first broke out in KwaZulu Natal this week.
“We could have done better but we were overwhelmed by the situation. We are going to re-examine everything that we do in defence of our people,” Ramaphosa said
The president said this on Friday, during his oversight visit to KwaZulu-Natal province, the epicentre of deadly violence that has shaken the country over the past week.
He was there to assess the impact of the violence and the deployment of security forces.
Ramaphosa maintained that the violence was planned.
Cyril Ramaphosa was asked about why he mentioned ethnic mobilization in his earlier speeches.
This was his response. He also touched on the issue of political solutions to the #ZumaArrest
What are your thoughts on his KZN walk about and his answers to the media? pic.twitter.com/5aVrxlx2Ha
— Jafta Jamie (@MightiJamie) July 16, 2021
“It is quite clear that all these incidents of unrest and looting were instigated, there were people who planned it and coordinated it and we are going after them,” he said.
Authorities have indicated that they have identified 12 suspects.
Ramaphosa said his government was concerned about what happened, adding that they will not allow anarchy in the country.
The visit was Ramaphosa’s first since violence erupted after the graft-tainted ex-president Jacob Zuma – who commands support from some of the country’s poor – began a 15-month jail term for refusing to testify to a commission probing corruption under his tenure.
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Mobs of people rampaged through shops and warehouses in KZN and Johannesburg in the worst violence since the end of apartheid.
At least 117 people have been killed in looting sprees and shootings, pushing Ramaphosa’s adminstration to the brink and forcing him to deploy 25 000 troops, the second largest military call-up in the history of democratic South Africa.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
Additional reporting by AFP
