50 stories you need to read about one year after the July 2021 unrest

It has been a year since civil unrest, looting and criminality gripped parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, with South Africans still trying to pick up the pieces.

The violence and looting broke out after days of protests in KwaZulu-Natal linked to the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma, and quickly spread to parts of Gauteng.

The unrest left 354 people dead, communities in ruins, and cost billions in damage.

TimesLIVE and the Sunday Times has reflected on the unrest and life in the aftermath:

Alex’s beloved Freedom Supermarket resumes place at centre of community life

Freedom Supermarket is one of Alexandra township's best-loved stores. Its convenient location, just a few metres from the Pan Africa shopping centre, is another reason for its popularity.

The supermarket’s reasonable prices and rich history serving residents of the township for 30 years have customers coming back for more. But when the July unrest occurred and Pan Africa shopping centre was attacked by looters, Freedom Supermarket was not spared.

“If you take a look at the Pan Africa centre or you take a look at Freedom Supermarket, these are very viable distances,” said supermarket and Freedom Corner representative Nick Obel.

Tongaat, where hope is washed away by unrest and floods

In his two small suitcases, Busani Mthethwa carried what little clothing he had left and five copies of his CV in brown envelopes. When the salon he worked at was razed to the ground during the July unrest, 28-year-old Mthethwa was confident it would be rebuilt and his job would be safe again.

The deadly floods that battered KwaZulu-Natal in April washed away any hope he had of starting his life again in Tongaat.

Building back better

Durban businessman Sithembiso Nzimande thought the meat product reselling and distribution company, of which he is MD and a shareholder, was finished when the riots broke out last year.

Nzimande's business, Thompson Distribution and Resellers, has a partnership with Gen4Foods, in Sea Cow Lake, Durban, for the Thompsons Tasty Meats brand. The factory, which was completely gutted by looters, directly affected Nzimande's operations.

Looted chicken farm leads to job losses

After the looting of about R1.2m worth of stock which resulted in the permanent closure of the Hofina Poultry Shop outside Newcastle, residents of Madadeni say life hasn’t been the same.

When the Sunday Times visited Hofina’s Madadeni farm, the only employee who appeared to have remained behind was security guard Mphikeleli Mnculwane. Most of the others had been transferred.

July riots one year on: ‘They were like flies, swarming the mall. Burning, looting, destroying’

Last July's violence, mainly pitting Indians against Africans, was nothing new in the history of KwaZulu-Natal. Similar events occurred in 1985, and in 1949. It was a fight over land and power — with unknown figures inciting racial hatred. And in another 35 years, will history repeat itself.

July riots one year on: ‘They just saw black and were going to shoot’

Mlondi was in disbelief as he ran for his life down the barricaded Phoenix street that had always been his home.

It was July 12 2021, and the 21-year-old cellphone network salesman was being pursued by his neighbours who didn’t recognise him as the young man who’d grown up in the predominantly Indian area.

He believed they wanted him dead, mistaken for one of those faceless people they had been warned by messages on WhatsApp that would attack their homes.

July riots one year on: How two Inanda residents escaped death in Phoenix

Luzuko Nteleko describes July 13 last year as the day he stared death in the face.

The 23-year-old lives in the Zwelisha shack settlement on the border of Inanda, next to Phoenix, where 36 people were killed.

Nteleko was in his brother’s vehicle driving through Phoenix with a number of other people. They were on their way to Cornubia Mall to loot when they were stopped at a makeshift roadblock, dragged out of the vehicle and interrogated.

July unrest: Children were traumatised

KwaZulu-Natal children were traumatised and went hungry when violence spread through the province last July.

Childline KZN acting director Adeshini Naicker told TimesLIVE the child protection organisation received numerous calls during the unrest.

“Many of the children were afraid for themselves and families. Children were traumatised by the level of violence they were seeing. Children were also calling to tell us they were starving,” she said.

JULY RIOTS | Looters aren’t going crazy: store staff laugh off ‘Muslim bad luck’ rumours

Like many other businesses, Jabula Hardware in Umgababa on the KZN south coast was looted until it was almost empty in July last year.

Looters not just from Umgababa but from the surrounding areas of Ifracombe, iLovu and Magabheni stole cement, gas cookers and other building materials from the shop.

JULY RIOTS | Mother’s worst nightmare: son killed after she sent him to buy prepaid electricity

Gcinaphi Mkhumbi endured a harrowing 10km journey by car to hospital with her wounded son, Skhumbudzo, 36, after he was shot during last year’s civil unrest while on his way to buy an electricity token for his mother.

He didn’t survive.

‘Don’t wear ANC regalia to loot’: a year since riots, eThekwini Shutdown member speaks out

A member of a WhatsApp group called eThekwini Shutdown, formed days before last year’s July unrest, claims he only warned people not to wear ANC regalia while looting because he didn’t want them to “get into trouble”.

Identifying himself as Mfundo Mthembu, a 35-year-old self-employed Durban resident, the man said he had no hand in the looting apart from posting the following message on the group: “Cde I suggest that as we push our underground struggle, let us not wear the ANC clothes because we’ll be easily identifiable by our opponents, ‘the enemy’. I can sense that the capitalist will say collect or arrest everyone who is [in] yellow. That’s suggested COMRADES, I’m subjected to correction.”

Mthembu said the only reason he posted the message was to save people from falling foul of the law.

‘No-one cares about arresting the real July unrest instigators’

A WhatsApp group containing messages revealing what was believed to be the address of then deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo’s home and making calls to burn down not only the house but also businesses, prompted a KwaZulu-Natal leader to call premier Sihle Zikalala. 

However, Zikalala didn’t take S’bu Zikode’s calls.

Neither did he respond to a message sent by the president of shack-dwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo (ABM). 

Epicentre of KZN looting rises from the ashes

Partially burnt and vandalised buildings remind those who pass Durban's Springfield Park that it was the epicentre of last year's looting and destruction.

Twelve months later, some businesses in the vibrant hub remain in ruins, with what happened there still fresh in people's minds.

Images of looters walking away with valuable items — from solar panels, batteries, tyres and fridges to TVs, power tools and branded clothing — will remain imprinted in the psyche of many. 

No peace in picking up the pieces of July 2021 unrest

A Durban property developer has been forced to put “construction mafia” groups on his payroll as he rebuilds two malls. His properties, one in Umlazi and the other in Inanda, were looted and vandalised during the July riots last year.

Since then, shoppers haven’t set foot in Gary Gould’s properties, Philani Valley Mall south of Durban and Dube Village Mall in the north.

The complexes, which served thousands of consumers, lay in ruins for months as Gould, a major shareholder, waited for state-owned insurer Sasria to pay his R137m damages claim.

Closed mall means pain for Edendale community

Ncamisile Vertuin, 42, who lives in Machibisa in the shadow of Pietermaritzburg’s Edendale Mall, now has to travel 10km by taxi to buy necessities for her family.

The fare to the city centre is R32 but Vertuin, who uses a wheelchair, has to pay twice that.

“With us who are living with a disability it’s difficult, because we have to pay for an extra seat which amounts to R64. Sometimes you have to pay for the person who accompanies you to town,” she said.

‘I didn’t expect CCTV to show familiar faces’: SuperSpar staff looted and aided public

Sibonelo Dlamini couldn’t believe his eyes when he watched the CCTV footage of the looting of the SuperSpar in Hammarsdale on July 12 last year.

The 35-year-old manager of the township store about 50km west of Durban was horrified as the footage showed the looting that began at about 4am.

“When we were watching the videos we all expected to see just unfamiliar faces. We were really shocked to see faces of our staff members, and I must say I was very disappointed,” he said.

Injustice for Durban family who refused to leave home, mistaken for Zondo’s, during unrest

At the height of last July’s riots, calls were made on social media to burn down the Durban home of chief justice Raymond Zondo.

His state capture commission had secured an order to hold former president Jacob Zuma in contempt of court for refusing to testify before it and Zuma had been taken to Estcourt prison to serve what was supposed to be a 15-month sentence.

Hours later, a WhatsApp group called EThekwini Shutdown posted the details of “Raymond Zondo Address”, prompting a fiery response from members who said the house should “perish”.

JULY RIOTS | ‘Bridge of death’: woman recalls stampede that killed sister and others

When Nomonde Dlamini’s neighbour knocked on the door of her shack at Ekuthuleni informal settlement in Lamontville in July last year, little did she know the woman would be bringing her tragic news about her sister.

Zinhle Dlamini’s tiny frame was identified by Nomonde among at least 11 other bodies crushed during a stampede on a bridge that connects the township of Lamontville to Umlazi’s Mega City shopping centre.

JULY RIOTS | Mom in agony as she awaits justice for her son’s shooting

Khan Road informal settlement dwellers in Pietermaritzburg say they are still trying to find closure after last year’s unrest which claimed the lives of two residents and left another paralysed.

The unrest also saw more than 120 shacks in the settlement go up in flames when a group of armed men allegedly sought retribution for the looting.

Three suspects who were held for the murders are out on bail.

‘State is to blame’: alleged July riots instigators plan to plead not guilty

Three of the 19 people arrested by police as the alleged instigators of the July unrest have come out guns blazing, claiming they intended to plead not guilty when their matters go to court.

Fees Must Fall activist Bonginkosi Khanyile, former TV and radio personality Ngizwe Mchunu and West Rand Patriotic Alliance member Bruce Nimmerhoudt, who at the time of the unrest was the party’s mayoral candidate, told TimesLIVE Premium they all intend to plead not guilty to their charges relating to inciting public violence and breaching the Disaster Management Act and Terrorism Act.

Illegal Lesotho miners’ rivalry at centre of tavern bloodbath

A raging feud, characterised by initiation and revenge killings between two rival illegal mining gangs from Lesotho, is believed to be at the centre of last weekend's horrific shooting  at Mdlalose’s tavern in Soweto, which claimed 16 lives.

The two groups, one of which is a splinter from the other, have been locked in a cycle of revenge killings in Gauteng, Free State, and North West from last year. While the rivalry goes back many years, a leadership vacuum caused by a Covid-19 death has weakened the biggest gang, opening it up for a takeover.

‘No big names in arrests for July riots’

The Hawks have completed their investigations into the unrest that engulfed KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng last July, but say no prominent figures or politically connected people are expected to be arrested.

Hawks head Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya said the 86 alleged instigators police minister Bheki Cele had announced were being investigated will be brought before court before the end of September. "There is a lot of work that has been done by the team, now it is a matter of leveling the landing strips and making sure everything is planned properly. We will be sitting with the prosecutors  who will make the final decisions.

July 2021 unrest: ‘Wake up and loot so Zuma can be released’

Zama*, 21, was at home with her mother, a friend, and her niece and nephew in Nhlalakahle outside Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal, when she heard there would be looting. 

“On Friday 9 July last year there was a car going around Nhlalakahle township announcing that we should wake up on Monday morning, on the 12th, and go to Greytown and loot so that Jacob Zuma would be released,” she said. 

July 2021 unrest | Crushed to death by crates of beer while looting bottlestore

Cebo Zakwe dreamt of becoming an electrical engineer.

Instead, the 20-year-old from Nhlalakahle township, outside Greytown, became one of more than 300 people to die in the July mayhem last year.

His body was found by his brothers Buhle and Zweli in a looted bottle store. He had been crushed to death by crates of beer.

‘I’m sorry, God please forgive me’: Umlazi burn victim’s last words to sister during height of unrest

In agony after having his skin burnt off, 15-year-old Manqobalwazi Gamede fell to the ground and apologised to his family, pleading for God’s forgiveness in his final hours. 

The grade 9 Makhumbuza High School pupil and his cousin Bianca Gamede, 24, were two of the people who perished after sustaining severe burns when a fire broke out at Jwayelani Butchery in the Ithala Centre in Umlazi’s W section during the height of looting in July last year.

According to Manqobalwazi’s sister, S'thembile, 20, her brother and cousin survived for a few days before succumbing to their injuries in hospital. 

KZN recovery could be better: Zikalala takes national government to task

KZN premier Sihle Zikalala says national government could have “done better” to assist the province as it recovers from the deadly floods that have devastated infrastructure.

In a recent interview, Zikalala revealed the National Treasury was invited to form part of a joint team that assessed the damage. But instead only the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (Misa) sent representatives.

According to Zikalala, a joint assessment would have allowed the National Treasury to release relief funds much earlier.

July riots: criminal investigation into UPL toxic spill ‘almost complete’

A year after one of the country’s worst environmental disasters, the criminal investigation into Indian chemical giant United Phosphorus Ltd (UPL) is almost complete, according to government. 

National department of environment, forestry & fisheries (DFFE) spokesperson Albi Modise told TimesLIVE Premium that on completion of the investigation, the docket would be handed to the director of public prosecutions to decide whether to prosecute. 

July 12 marks a ear since the UPL chemical warehouse in Cornubia, north of Durban, was burnt to the ground by arsonists during the unrest, unleashing 5,500 tonnes of pesticides, solvents and other agrochemicals into the environment. 

Lack of arrests of July unrest instigators reflects 'failed governance’ — NGO

The lack of arrests of those who incited and encouraged violent criminal activity during the July unrest last year is a reflection of failed governance.

This is according to NGO Active Citizens Movement (ACM) on the first anniversary of the catastrophic events that unfolded in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

The organisation told TimesLIVE it was concerned that a year after the unrest “the political and social conditions in our country still remain the same or indeed have deteriorated even further”.

‘We’ve been let down’: What you said about whether those responsible for the July unrest will be brought to book

While SA remembers the civil unrest, looting and criminality that gripped parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng a year ago, TimesLIVE readers have weighed in on whether those responsible will ever be brought to book.

The violence broke out after days of protests in KwaZulu-Natal linked to the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma.

July 2021 unrest exposed SA’s racial fault lines: panel

The unrest that besieged KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng a year ago exposed racialised fault lines entrenched in society.

In a recent collective submission to the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), which conducted hearings into the catastrophic events, a group of KwaZulu-Natal based individuals and organisations said the noble ideal of non-racialism “has not been achieved, and we have much work to do to transform attitudes, values, stereotyping and power relations across all racial groupings in SA”.

They said: “The impact of colonialism and apartheid has left enduring negative legacies in all communities.

‘They were killed like stray dogs’: One year later, where is the justice for those murdered in July unrest?

“It’s like they killed stray dogs on that night … no-one is being held responsible for the death of my son. The police have been quiet since we buried Sihle on July 20 last year.”

One year after the violent unrest that plunged parts of SA into anarchy and claimed the lives of 354 victims, Sihle Kotelani’s mother, Hlengiwe, battled to hold back tears during an interview at her home in Amaoti, Inanda, in KwaZulu-Natal. 

For eight dark days in July last year, South Africans watched in horror as the country was engulfed in a violent spree of looting and death, as protests against the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma rocked KwaZulu-Natal and quickly spiralled into lawlessness and looting.

During a six-month investigation, the Sunday Times identified Kotelani as one of 199 people murdered in KwaZulu-Natal during the riots, most of whom were shot from behind. A further 38 were murdered in Gauteng.

Kotelani’s name is included in a data set the Sunday Times obtained. The data set includes the names of most of the dead and how and where they died. However, many of the victims remain unnamed, entered simply as “unknown”.

EDITORIAL | One year later, all we have is unfinished business

What makes the deaths more tragic is that they are as much a product of our broken politics as they are of heavy-handed security, a consequence of the rift that has grown in the ANC between President Cyril Ramaphosa and supporters of the former president Jacob Zuma.

A year ago, it became clear that Zuma supporters would stop at nothing to keep their hero out of jail, including burning the country to the ground.

Given the many crises facing the country, there is still a real danger of political opportunists capitalising on genuine grievances to instigate unrest in future. Will the government be ready next time?

WATCH | 'I must accept the outcome of the looting'- Amanzimtoti youngster explains why he joined friends looting

On the evening of July 12 2021, Ntokozo Banda was in a car with a friend and some acquaintances when they stopped near Southgate Business Park near Amanzimtoti, south of Durban.

The group entered the industrial complex, which is packed with businesses selling everything from forklifts and air conditioners, to packaging and vehicle parts.  

Hours later, the 22-year-old would-be architect from KwaMakhutha left Southgate for Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital in Umlazi with life-changing injuries. He had been shot in the spine, allegedly by a police officer from Amanzimtoti Police Station.

WATCH | ‘I had to watch my son’s lifeless body, bullet hole in his head, for almost a day’

On July 12 last year Simphiwe Mkhwanazi’s mother sent him to top up her Flash machine.

The promising 16-year-old soccer star’s mom, Thokozile Mkhize, runs a spaza shop in Inanda, north of Durban. That night, she asked him to go and recharge the device she uses to sell electricity, airtime and data tokens.

What was supposed to be a simple errand became hell for Simphiwe. He was shot in the leg, allegedly by security guards at Mambha Cash & Carry, as he was passing by.

For five days Thokozile could not get her son to hospital because of burning barricades erected by residents of neighbouring Phoenix and he lay at home. By the time he got to hospital, gangrene had set in and his leg had to be amputated.

‘I got what I deserved’: Durban’s ‘Mercedes looter’ apologises to SA

On July 12, 2021, Mbuso Moloi wrecked his life when he decided to take part in the looting. Footage of him carrying a basket of groceries from a Woolworths store in Durban was seen all over social media. 

Moloi,to be forever labelled the Woolies looter or the Mercedes looter, is now apologising to all South Africans through two letters he gave to the Sunday Times.  

Moloi said his name had been tarnished when he was photographed carrying the basket of food items which he loaded into his father's Mercedes-Benz C300 Coupe. 

He said his decision to loot at the time was a poor reflection of his character and what he believed in. 

‘They took everything’: looted doctor builds back

Dr Mpho Mushadu, from Ndofaya Medical Centre in Meadowlands, Soweto, would rather not talk about the looting last July. It destroyed his practice.

“It is something I want to forget about. Every time when people ask about it, I don't want to go there,” he said.

The medical centre was destroyed when looters took everything and smashed the walls and ceiling, in spite of the building being next to the Meadowlands police station. 

S'THEMBISO MSOMI | Lack of urgency in bringing riot instigators to book speaks volumes

It has become clear in the intervening year that many “people of interest” who the police would dearly like to question are in fact members of government who have spent much of the year appearing on public platforms with the president whose government they apparently wanted to oust through illegal and violent means.

It is hard to believe that the authorities were in the dark about the conspirators who plunged the country into violence; perhaps they were simply too frightened to act against them, especially in a year in which the ANC is headed for an elective conference that may produce a new leader.

July 2021 unrest: KZN firms ‘reluctant to rebuild capacity’

As the country marks the one-year anniversary of the July riots this week, larger businesses remain hesitant to build capacity back to pre-riot levels, while in KwaZulu-Natal some firms that are still struggling to recover are considering relocating to other provinces.

Large businesses, which have seen more of a recovery after last year's events that affected KZN and parts of Gauteng, fear there could be a repeat as none of the ringleaders of the mayhem that unfolded between July 8 and 14 have been prosecuted.

SA’s famous blue sofa finds a forever home

Recovered from a pavement in a Durban informal settlement after being looted from a warehouse during the July unrest, SA’s R67,999 blue sofa will move to a children’s home next week.

Leather Gallery owner Terry Parry said the item will be donated to Wylie House Child and Youth Care Centre, a home in the city for girls aged three to 18.

Businesses still not confident in KZN after July unrest: Durban Chamber CEO

One year after the July unrest, investor confidence in KwaZulu-Natal is yet to be restored, with many businesses across the country uncertain that their money is safe in the province.

This is according to Durban Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO Palesa Phili, who addressed the media at a briefing by KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala on Friday. 

People must face the wrath of the law: Modise on July 2021 unrest

Nobody is above the law, including members of the ANC, who may be found to have committed criminal acts during the July 2021 civil unrest.

This is what defence minister Thandi Modise said on Friday while addressing a media briefing by the justice, crime prevention and security cluster (JCPS) on prosecutions after the riots and looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

LISTEN | The July riots, a year later, but no justice for the 237 people murdered

The deaths during the unrest paint a horrific picture of bodies piling up in government mortuaries after many were murdered during those dark eight days of looting and protests, with police often nowhere to be found.

EDITORIAL | How can hundreds of people be murdered and no-one held accountable?

“If anything proves our lives are cheap, it must be the callousness with which those who took part in what we refer to as the July riots were killed and the subsequent lack of accountability”.

Family of teen ‘killed by cop’ don’t believe they will see justice

The family of Ntando Ndlovu, 14, killed at Pietermaritzburg’s Southgate shopping centre, allegedly by a police officer, don’t believe they will ever receive justice.

Ntando lived with his grandmother Margaret Thusi and his elder brother S’bonelo in France township, 10km outside the city.  

On the morning of July 8 last year, Thusi, who works in rural Thornville for a fresh produce supplier, said she left Ntando in S’bonelo’s care.

WATCH | 'Some want to loot again': Soweto picks up the pieces a year after July unrest

On the scene a year after Jabulani Mall was ravaged by looting and unrest, we spoke to residents of Soweto about the day their lives changed forever.

July riots shop explosion: some say four died, some say six, but others say more

On the morning of July 12 2021 a crowd in Umzimkhulu, about 160km southwest of Durban, gathered at the entrance of the town to loot businesses. Their main target was the Umzimkhulu Mall.

Their plan was thwarted. The mall was protected by other members of the community and heavily-armed taxi bosses. The crowd had no choice but to look at other stores in the vicinity.

36 arrests for Phoenix murders, Hawks probing 8 cases of incitement for July 2021 unrest

More than 2,435 cases relating to criminal activity in the civil unrest last year are on the court roll, with convictions obtained in at least 50 cases.

This is according to defence minister Thandi Modise, speaking at a briefing by the justice, crime prevention and security cluster (JCPS) on Friday on prosecutions after the riots and looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

One year after Ramaphosa’s addresses on July unrest, what has changed?

It has been nearly a year since President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation on the devastating public violence, looting and criminality that gripped parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

In one address, Ramaphosa pledged to restore calm and authorised the deployment of the military to help police.

As we reflect on life a year after the unrest, here are claims and promises made by Ramaphosa during his addresses.

5 names in the spotlight at the time

From former president Jacob Zuma to a Woolworths looter, a very expensive couch and a community member who would go on to greater fame.

Here are five names in the spotlight during the unrest:

Were citizens the real heroes? Will there be another uprising? What you said about the July 2021 unrest

As we watched the violence unfold and heard the promises of action that would be taken against the rioters and instigators, we asked you what you thought of the unrest.

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.