July 2021 Unrest: SA Human Rights Commission concerned about slow prosecutions

Only 2% of the cases related to the July 2021 KZN and Gauteng unrest have resulted in convictions. That's according to the South African Human Rights Commission's Philile Ntuli.

The commissioner adds that there has been no progress in over 50% of the cases. 

More than 350 people were killed in the violence which saw shops being looted and infrastructure worth billions - destroyed.

"There are significant delays on matters related to the July unrest and this remains a big concern for us," says Ntuli. 

She says according to the SAHRC's latest report on the unrest, there's only been 43% compliance with the 28 actionable recommendations made by the commission after hearings were held. Those recommendations were made in their January 2024 report.

On the positive side, Ntuli says Cabinet approved the National Security Strategy in March 2024. "This in our view is key in improving coordination among the intelligence and security structures which was one of the main findings of the report that coordination was clearly lacking."

The South African Police Service has also revised its public order policing instruction "which also is very important that rubber bullets for example... can now only be used under strict command".

To listen to SAHRC Commissioner Philile Ntuli's full discussion with CapeTalk and 702's Mandy Wiener click on the link below.