The 2021 July Unrest, which unfolded primarily in the KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng Provinces occurred amidst a tense social, economic, and political period in South Africa. At the time, the country, and world, were still struggling to come to terms with the costs of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

The country was on adjusted Alert Level 4 from 28 June to 25 July 2021. In the period immediately prior the declaration of the Pandemic, the International Monetary Fund had described South Africa as “an extremely unequal society, with high and rising unemployment”.

By June 2021 South Africa had moved from a 29% unemployment rate to a recorded all-time high of 34.4%.

 

Report by South African Human Rights Commission