July 2021 unrest: Did SA's political leadership learn any lessons?

STATE OF THE NATION

- PROF BHEKI MNGOMEZULU

JULY 2025 marks the fourth anniversary of the July 2021 unrest. On the evening of July 9, 2021, riots broke out across KwaZulu-Natal. In the evening of July 11, 2021, these riots had spread to Gauteng.

By the time this civil unrest ended, more than 350 people had lost their lives. Some were injured while others lost their property, businesses and jobs. Racial tensions rose in KZN. This untenable situation aggravated the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. By August 12, 2022, over 5500 people had been arrested in connection with these riots — some cases are still active.

But how did we get here? Could the riots have been prevented? Who should be held responsible for acting recklessly, thereby leading the country into this chaos?

More importantly, did our political leadership learn anything from this incident to ensure that the country does not descend into chaos again in the future? If not, where is our country going?

To answer some of these and other related questions, it is of cardinal importance to trace the origin of this incident, reflect on how it unfolded and compare it with the current situation as a precaution on what could potentially happen if the political leadership turns a blind eye on the concerns raised by South Africans, which leave them frustrated.

In a nutshell, the 2021 unrests were caused by factors which could have been easily avoided if the political leadership and the legal fraternity had demonstrated erudite leadership, objective reading of the situation and nonpartisan action.