EFF statement on the Ramaphosa appointed Expert Panel report into July civil unrest

8 February 2022

The EFF notes the report of the Expert Panel into July 2021 Civil Unrest published by the presidency yesterday. The report has reached the correct conclusion that the riots must be squarely blamed at the incompetence of Ramaphosa's government and its security institutions. Whilst noting the worsening socioeconomic conditions of our people as a fertile ground for the mobilisation that took place following the arrest of Jacob Zuma. The report insists that the "executive... must take responsibility for its lapse of leadership.'

Overall, the report has given substance to observations the EFF had already drawn regarding the riots. Firstly, is that the ANC has become a menace to South African society and the key source of the July riots. In the words of the report, "factional battles in the African National Congress have become a serious source of instability in the country." The report also states that these "internal contradictions within the ANC are (also) impacting negatively on government. matters". Meaning, the ANC has become incapable of governing South Africa.

Secondly, the EFF made the observation that South Africa's intelligence services were not only caught by surprise at the nature of the riots, they were also largely dysfunctional. The report indicates the correct fact that the "National Security Council had not been sitting regularly before July 2021, despite the warnings given by NICOC that 2021 was going to be a particularly volatile year." In fact, states the report, "The form of violence seems to have taken the security services completely by surprise.'

However, the report has several weaknesses which undermine the credibility of its conclusions with regards to intelligence services. By its own admission, the report states: 

"We record that whilst the security services inform. us about the intelligence reports they had produced and submitted to various clients, we did not have sight of these classified documents, a. could therefore not make a determination of the quality of intelligence. provided. Nevertheless, based on the totality of our investigation, which included face-to-face interviews with relevant security service and intelligence officials, we are confident that the findings we make in our report are valid!'

A key question that the country needed to 'mow is whether the President and or the Minister of Police knew about the planned riots and did nothing to stop them. This is important as it is the implication of the claims by erstwhile Minister of State Security, Ayandla Dlodlo. In our observation, Ayanda Dlodlo mislead. the country about having provided intelligence products or information regarding the riots to the SAPS. The minister seems to have repeat. the same lies to the expert panel without providing evidence to back them up. The panel states that they "were inform. that there were products that were shared directly with the President, as it should be, and others that the erstwhile Minister of State Security said she wanted to share directly with the President but did not get an opportunity to do so. We did not have sight of those products?'

The truth is, there were never such products which had information about planned riots following Zurna's arrest. The government anticipated protests to stop Zuma's arrest. They did not anticipate that there would be protests, let alone riots, following Zuma's arrest. In essence, the government did not have an idea of Mooi River Plaza closure, attack on Malls and the networks that carried these forward.

The greatest weakness of the report is its failure to inquire into the Phoenix brutal killings which were definitively motivated by Indian Anti-African racism. In fact, the report only mention Phoenix 8 times without ever putting it as a focus area or topic. In Phoenix there was systematic killing of African people by arm. Indian militia groups with the possible complicity of the police a. government. In fact, nowhere does the report note the dangerous celebration of vigilantism by even Ramaphosa as having emboldened racist militias to unleash their violence with pride.

The report fails to state this fact because it did not investigate it. It failed to tell Ramaphosa that his government was complicit in the killing of over 30 African people in Phoenix by the racist and armed Indian militia groups. The report, by treating this matter lightly, seeks to erase a cruel occurrence, which needs remembering so as to not happen again.

Finally, we call on a public parliamentary inquiry into the failures of intelligence services regarding the July riots. This inquiry must be conducted by the Join Standing Committee on Intelligence as it constitutes MPs who have the highest security clearances. All intelligence products regarding the riots must be declassified so as to establish if indeed there was any qualitative intelligence work done and shared with relevant institutions.

Issued by Vuyani Pambo, National Spokesperson, EFF, 8 November 2022