The South African Human Rights Commission on Monday (November 15th) opened an investigation into the unprecedented riots that rocked the country in July, killing more than 350 people and worsening poverty in some areas.
The hearings opened near Durban in KwaZulu-Natal (east), a province where the violence originally linked to the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma (2009-2018), very popular in the region, have started.
The objective of the commission is to determine the causes of the violence, the shortcomings of the police, the role of private security companies and the motivations of certain murders committed against a background of racial tensions.
Read alsoSouth Africa: Zuma's imprisonment triggers riots
Faced with the quickly overwhelmed police, some residents took up arms to do justice themselves. Sibahle, 17, was killed in these circumstances, her aunt, Zama Nguse, first witness said. In Durban, angry men after their stores were looted burned down makeshift homes and shot community members, she said. “Sibahle didn't know in which direction we had fled, he was looking for us. A man told me later that Sibahle had been shot ”.
The unrest has "exacerbated, among other things, the inequalities between certain communities, the level of unemployment, poverty, hunger and food insecurity," the Commission said in a statement.
The destruction caused at least 1.4 billion euros in damage, she added.
Hearings are scheduled to continue until December 3.
