Police Minister Bheki Cele has told the Human Rights Commission hearings into the July 2021 unrest that police could’ve done more to prevent the situation from escalating but they were threatened. He says police in KwaZulu-Natal were threatened by the instigators of the unrest that their families would be killed if they participate in efforts to quell the violence and looting of businesses.
About 350 people died in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng during the week-long riots. Cele is the first witness to testify in the Gauteng leg of the hearings in Sandton, north of Johannesburg.
“Besides that police themselves had some problem. They could’ve done much better. There was a big campaign of delegitimizing them. Not only that, even scaring them. So you slow them down. I remember there was a message that tell all those police that are living in Umlazi not to come back there even if they don’t come back they won’t find their wives and their children,” says Cele.
HRC Hearings – Police Minister Bheki Cele testifies
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Police were threatened during July 2021 unrest: Cele
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