The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will probe the unrest that played out in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng last month, resulting in the deaths of more than 200 people.  

The SAHRC held public consultations after the unrest to understand what unfolded and the human rights impacts of the events.

Findings of the SAHRC’s National Investigative Hearing will inform the Commission’s recommendations and directives.

The Commission will probe the role and effectiveness of State enforcement – particularly the South African Police Service and the security cluster – in preventing and maintaining public order.

It will also try to determine underlying reasons that contributed to the unrest, looting and violence.

The SAHRC will probe the recommendations for the short-, medium- and long-term measures to be adopted by relevant stakeholders and the State to address human rights violations and prevent a recurrence of such events.

The Commission said during its consultations, it noted tensions between affected communities.

“The impact of the unrest severely undermined the rule of law upon which the promotion and protection of human rights rests and threatened the stability of our constitutional democracy, which the Commission has a constitutional mandate to strengthen,” it said.