President Cyril Ramaphosa testified on Friday at the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) hearings on the violence in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng last July that the unrest was a scheme to harm the economy.
The looting and arson actions caused R50 billion in damage and killed over 300 people. It was all premeditated, according to Ramaphosa. “We felt the greatest sense of betrayal that there were some amongst us who would go so far as to plot, destroy this very country we spent 28 years to build.”
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When the hearings began, Ramaphosa informed the commissioners that the unrest in July of last year had a specific goal. He was convinced that someone or a group of persons plotted and carried out the attacks on business establishments in order to harm the economy.
“As I said in my address to the nation on Friday, the 16th of July 2021, the events of the past week were nothing less than deliberate, coordinated and well-planned attack on our democracy intended to cripple the economy.”
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Over two million jobs were lost as a result of the unrest. “As I said in my address to the nation on Friday, the 16th of July 2021, the events of the past week were nothing less than deliberate, coordinated and well-planned attack on our democracy intended to cripple the economy.”
He said that the riots were orchestrated to destabilize the country’s economy and democracy.