Last Friday, security cluster ministers briefed the media on what the government had done to bring those behind last July’s mayhem in parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal to book.
This public relations exercise — meant to coincide with the first anniversary of the wanton looting, violence, murder and destruction of commercial property — failed to convince the media that South Africans can feel safe, assured that their government is ready to prevent a similar occurrence from happening again.
According to the ministers about eight people have been identified and some are out on bail which, they claimed, means they have a case to answer. To the families of the more than 300 people who died during that dreadful week this update provided no answers as to how their loved ones, mostly black Africans, met their deaths.
If anything, lawlessness and disorder incidents are on the rise, and the state’s weak capacity to maintain law and order is getting further exposed every week. Since last July’s mayhem the government, which is so obsessed with news headlines that it would even fake a mass funeral to show it cares and is in charge, has commissioned numerous reports.
An expert panel led by academic Sandy Africa confirmed what was known: the state’s response was woefully inadequate, shambolic and disjointed. It warned that interviewees felt the same mayhem could happen again. Another state agency, the SA Human Rights Commission, has yet to release its report and findings, but they are unlikely to be any different other than in colour and texture.
President Cyril Ramaphosa used last year’s incident to reshuffle his cabinet. He moved defence & military veterans minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, who had defied his characterisation of the riots, to parliament as Speaker; he moved state security minister Ayanda Dlodlo to public administration; he brought intelligence into the presidency; he appointed academic Sydney Mufamadi as his national security adviser; and this year sacked national police commissioner Khehla Sitole but kept police minister Bheki Cele. He has since appointed Thembi Majola, an ANC veteran, to head the State Security Agency (SSA).
While these personnel changes generated good headlines, there is precious little evidence that the state’s capacity to protect South Africans has improved. A colleague of this columnist recently observed that “intelligence doesn’t work for CR (the president)”. An earlier investigation, conducted by Mufamadi into the affairs of intelligence, found that the SSA had been weakened during the Jacob Zuma presidency and was affected by intra-ANC factional wrangling. This suggests the journey towards a professional intelligence service that collects credible and actionable intelligence will be long and slow.
Meanwhile, the law and order situation is getting worse. Thieves are running amok — they steal Eskom and Transnet’s cables in broad daylight. Disgruntled truck drivers routinely block national roads to express their grievances. People purporting to be members of the community are terrorising businesses. On Saturday 15 people were mown down at a Soweto tavern, causing the Qatar government to label the incident an act of terror before being strong-armed by Pretoria to withdraw the statement.
Business representatives are frustrated that not one of the perpetrators of last year’s violence has been successfully prosecuted even though some of the ringleaders are known in the community. After many years of ignoring his defiance of ANC instructions, the party has now reluctantly frozen Zuma out of its national executive committee meetings. Some of the looters are known to have been angry at the incarceration of Zuma after he was found guilty of contempt of court for refusing to appear before the Zondo commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture and corruption.
Though the ANC distanced itself from the riots, it has not asked its former president to do the same. Also, the party has yet to account for its role in the violence that engulfed the two provinces last July. There is a story doing the rounds in diplomatic circles that one government minister told delegates during an investment promotion drive how relieved government was that those who died last July were not killed by police bullets. What a shame!
What should be done? The government needs urgently to restore law and order. The attack on Eskom and Transnet infrastructure needs to be stopped forthwith, as should the illegal occupation of private mines and other businesses. South Africans should hold their government to account. They should demand the prosecution of the masterminds of last year’s violence. Civil society and the victims’ families should step up pressure for this accountability.
Last week two of Ramaphosa’s ministers and key allies — Cele and public enterprises ministers Pravin Gordhan — were roughed up and grilled by members of the public demanding some accountability. This is likely to continue, and escalate, until ministers become accountable and start taking citizens’ concerns seriously instead of ridiculing them.
Public relations gimmicks, including gestures like a monument to the victims, will not give the families of the deceased closure. What will is bringing to book those responsible for last year's events. A fresh, independent inquiry should be set up to look into the role of the ANC’s factions in instigating last year’s attempted insurrection (government’s preferred characterisation).
Finally, Ramaphosa should press ahead with his bid to professionalise the public service, including cleaning up the intelligence services. It is untenable to have a situation where the private sector has better intelligence capability than the state.
• Dludlu, a former Sowetan editor, is CEO of the Small Business Institute.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.