The DA wants an independent investigation to verify the police’s findings into the deaths of more than 300 people in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal during the rioting and looting that erupted in the provinces in July.
The opposition party wants the findings of the probe to be presented to parliament’s inquiry into the unrest in the wake of the imprisonment of former present Jacob Zuma.
DA MP Andrew Whitefield told a media briefing on Monday the investigation should identify members of the police who, through their action or inaction may have been complicit in the violent unrest.
An independent probe would ensure all deaths during the unrest are treated equally, including those of more than 20 people who died in Phoenix in Durban during the wave of unrest and looting, Whitefield said.
“It has been a claim that there was an order given [to police] to stand back and not attempt to apprehend the looters. This claim must be fully interrogated [and] we must establish causes, the shortcoming of rubber bullets, live ammunition and other critical resources required to quell such an insurrection,” he said.
The weeklong unrest resulted in an estimated R50bn loss to the economy after hundreds of retail centres were looted or closed and infrastructure damaged during the turmoil. In Gauteng police are investigating 42 cases of murder linked to the riots and have opened 37 dockets. In KwaZulu-Natal, 171 cases of murder have been opened and 87 dockets filed.
Racial tensions flared up in Phoenix amid the violence as communities formed groups to protect themselves against looters.
National police spokesperson Mathapelo Peters confirmed that investigations into the murders and unrest are continuing.
On numerous occasions members of the cabinet, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, have conceded that members of the security cluster had been caught off-guard by the unrest and failed to respond timeously to the security breaches.
Responding in July to criticism of the police’s slow response to the unrest, police minister Bheki Cele claimed that state security minister Ayanda Dlodlo failed to share an intelligence report in the days leading up to the violence.
“We expect the three minsters of the security cluster, police minister Bheki Cele, state security minister Ayanda Dlodlo and defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to be removed if the inquiry finds that they did indeed mislead the country regarding the insurrection and the ‘redacted’ intelligence reports must be made public,” DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard said at the briefing on Monday.
A parliamentary inquiry comprising the portfolio committee on police, portfolio committee on defence, portfolio committee on justice and correctional services, select committee on security and justice, joint standing committee on defence and joint standing committee on intelligence was scheduled to start on July 29 but was postponed after legal concerns over the process.
The inquiry was initiated by National Assembly chairperson Cedrick Frolick. However, this was not in line with parliamentary rules stipulating that such an inquiry would have to get the nod from both houses of parliament.
On Friday police committee chairperson Tina Joemat-Pettersson said the matter now has to be referred to National Assembly speaker Thandi Modise.
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