Johannesburg – Cabinet must take overall responsibility for the events of July 2021, the three member panel that investigated government’s response to the civil unrests which claimed hundreds of lives has recommended to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“It (cabinet) must drive a national response plan that demonstrates its own willingness to be held accountable, and to hold the public office bearers who failed in their responsibilities to account.
It must give regular feedback on what is happening to ensure that those who planned and instigated the violence are being brought to book,” one of the recommendations of the panel read.
Sunday World reported in October that National police commissioner Khehla Sitole blamed Police Minister Bheki Cele for the police’s poor response to the July unrests in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal that led to the deaths of more than 300 people.
This allegation was contained in Sitole’s representations on why he should not be suspended.
Sitole told Ramaphosa that Cele had failed to approve the police budget on time, leading to a poor response by the officers during the July unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal which also led to more than R50 billion losses to the economy.
There was a lot of “finger-pointing” between the military, state intelligence and the police in the aftermath of the unrests.
The aftermath of the unrests saw Ramaphosa appoint an expert panel to probe the violence and security lapses in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Ramaphosa appointed Professor Sandy Africa to chair the panel and other members include former legal adviser to ex-President Thabo Mbeki Mojanku Gumbi and former co-ordinator for the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee, Silumko Sokupa.
The panel in its report also lambasted intelligence services for not being pro-active when violence, mass looting and destruction of property took place.
“There was a significant intelligence failure to anticipate, prevent or disrupt the planned and orchestrated violence.
The intelligence appreciation and interpretation of what was building up happened too late, if at all; and as a result the security services failed to put in place the necessary interventions to detect and disrupt the plans.”
Ramaphosa reacted to the unrests by announcing sweeping changes to his cabinet, particularly the justice cluster removing state security minister Ayanda Dlodlo and defense counterpart Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
The president then moved state security under the wing of the Presidency.
Last month, Ramaphosa tapped his ally Mondli Gungubele as the political head of the intelligence services.
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