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Capacity, budget prolonged release of July unrest report; SAHRC

12 May 2023

The South African Human Rights Commission says capacity issues and budget constraints are among the reasons why it's taken the institution nearly two years to compile the final report on the July 2021 unrest.

Looters and vandals ransacked, damaged and destroyed businesses and other properties during the week-long riots fuelled by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma.


The chaos, mostly in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, left more than 400 people dead, with the repair bill running into the billions.

The report's expected to shed light on human rights violations during the unrest when it's released on 24 July.

"It is a matter of analysing a lot of evidence. We at some point in time had to then allocate specific staff members and also contract people from outside to assist us on a full-time basis," says Commissioner Andre Gaum.

"We do want to provide to the country a quality report that is impactful in terms of findings, recommendations and directives, and therefore it is very important that we do this work very diligently and very precisely."

Meanwhile, the alleged instigators in the unrest are expected to appear in the Durban Regional Court on Friday.

They face charges including conspiracy to commit public violence, incitement to commit public violence and incitement to commit arson.

Source: East Coast Radio

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The Human Rights Commission is the national institution established to support constitutional democracy. It is committed to promote respect for, observance of and protection of human rights for everyone without fear or favour.

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