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Expert panel says Cabinet must be held accountable for the July unrest

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The Expert panel looking into the July unrest says Cabinet must be held accountable for the violence which claimed over 300 lives.

The panel, appointed in August last year, also found that the country’s intelligence services failed to intercept and prevent the planned and orchestrated riots.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the release of the report of the Expert Panel on the July Unrest to the public.

The report says Cabinet must take responsibility for failing to contain violence which saw the destruction of public property, the killing of over 300 people, and destruction of businesses in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and some parts of Mpumalanga.

It also cited internal differences within the governing African National Congress (ANC) as one of the contributing factors to the July unrest.

The State Security Agency was also not spared with the report saying the country’s intelligence failed to detect and disrupt the planned unrest. It also says the intelligence was reluctant to gather information on certain political individuals fearing to be accused of interfering in politics.

President Ramaphosa will in his state of the nation address on Thursday outline actions that the government will take in response to the findings and recommendations of the report.

Discussion on unfolding events at the SAHRC hearing into the July unrest with David Bruce: 

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