‘We are going after them’ – Ramaphosa fires warning for unrest instigators

President Cyril Ramaphosa is talking tough and has warned they will leave no stone unturned in unmasking the people behind the riots in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Gauteng.

Ramaphosa conducted an oversight visit in KZN on Friday morning, 16 July 2021, to assess the level of damage caused by the unrest over the past few days.

KZN and Gauteng have been the scene of bedlam in recent days due to the rampages which saw a number of malls and other establishments being looted. At least  117 people have died, while over 2 200 others have been arrested.

“There are people who coordinated it and planned it. Our intelligence services and our police have now got line of sight of what actually was happening here with the instigation and the planning – and we are after those people. We are going after them,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa speaks on recent riots

President Cyril Ramaphosa has also praised the country’s security forces but says the situation could have been worse had they not intervened in the manner that they have.

“The situation could have been much worse and our security forces came to the party and did the very best they could. We obviously regret the situation that has resulted in this. This is not what we want to see in our country and we are going to have to reexamine everything that we do, in defence of our people and in defence of the assets of the country”

President Cyril Ramaphosa

Police are believed to be on the hunt for 11 suspected instigators believed to be behind the insurrection. One person has already been taken in for questioning.

Ramaphosa has applauded ordinary citizens for taking it upon themselves to clean up the mess and debris that has been left, as a result of the unrest.

“Ordinary citizens have felt they need to defend their areas and their assets. And we welcome that ordinary citizens are working with police to defend [not just] their own assets but our democracy. This is an assault on our democracy. The instigators want to spread instability,” he said.