The first witness at the National Hearing into the July unrest, Zama Nguse, from one of the informal settlements in Pietermaritzburg, has told the hearing how her nephew Sbahle Nguse was killed during the unrest.
Nguse has recalled events on how businesspeople in Durban allegedly set their shacks alight and shot other people accusing them of looting and burning their businesses.
She says while they were running to the house, they heard gunshots only to be told later that her nephew had been shot.
The hearing led by the Human Rights Commission is probing the unrest in July in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng which claimed over 350 lives.
She also told the hearing how people who were not part of the looting were abused, victimised and shot at by some business people. “People started looting and breaking in motor spares and bottle store. Later, Indians started burning houses and fired shots.”
In the video below, SAHRC hearing into July unrest:
The witness also told the hearing how a woman carrying a two-month-old baby was shot and killed by the business people whose businesses had been looted in the area.
“I remember very well when they shot at a girl carrying a two-month baby and put a petrol bomb on her to kill her again.”
