‘The ANC has become a menace to society’ - EFF weighs in on July unrest report

The EFF has placed the blame on the ANC for the unrest and looting that ravaged parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July last year, saying the party is a “menace to society”.

A 154-page report compiled by a panel of experts investigated the reasons behind the unrest. It was made public on Monday. 

The blame, said the report, must be shared with the executives because it failed to show leadership when it was needed most.

The EFF said the report reached the correct conclusion.

“Overall, the report has given substance to observations the EFF had already drawn regarding the riots. The ANC has become a menace to South African society and a key source of the July riots,” said the party.

The party said the report highlighted that the ANC is “incapable of governing SA”.

It questioned whether President Cyril Ramaphosa and police minister Bheki Cele knew about the riots ahead of time.

“A key question the country needed to know is whether the president and/or the minister of police knew about the planned riots and did nothing to stop them,” said the EFF. 

“This is important as it is the implication of the claims by former state security minister Ayandla Dlodlo. In our observation, Dlodlo misled the country about having provided intelligence products or information regarding the riots to the police. The minister seems to have repeated the same lies to the expert panel without providing evidence to back them up.”

The EFF suggested the intelligence information Dlodlo alleged she wanted to share with Ramaphosa, but did not, never existed.

“The government anticipated protests to stop Zuma’s arrest. They did not anticipate that there would be riots following Zuma’s arrest. In essence, the government did not have an idea of the Mooi River Plaza closure, attacks on malls and the networks that carried these forward,” it said. 

The lack of inquiry into the Phoenix killings was, the party said, the “greatest weakness of the report”. 

The July unrest and looting resulted in 36 people losing their lives in the area.

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