EDITORIAL | As leaders pass the buck, spare a thought for July riot victims

We were unaware it would escalate to that level. Our first job wasn’t public order, it was to defend national key points. We were caught with our pants down. We warned the police, but nothing was done.

The blame game is playing out like a table tennis match as government leaders, the police, military top brass and community leaders testify before an SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) inquiry into last year’s devastating July riots.

But while the buck gets hit back and forth in the upper echelons of power, these words are cold comfort for the families of the more than 300 people who died.

Amanda Magadula’s 55-year-old mother Angela was killed during a looting stampede on July 13 in Meadowlands, Soweto.

“I have a lot of questions, but will asking these bring my mom back from the dead? It won’t,” said Magadula. She was days away from giving birth when her mother went to Ndofaya Mall to buy nappies. “That was the last time I saw her, until she returned home in a coffin.” To this day she does not know the cause of her mother’s death.

Amanda Magadula was days away from giving birth when her mother Angela went to Ndofaya Mall to buy nappies. 'That was the last time I saw her, until she returned home in a coffin.'

Amid all of the finger-pointing and political point-scoring regarding who was to blame for the chaos and destruction of infrastructure, spare a thought for the families of those who died. Yes, some were criminals taking advantage of the mayhem, but others were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“All I heard was that she ran out of breath and died right there. So it is either a heart attack or shortness of breath, but we never received her postmortem,” said Magadula.

Those who died were mothers, fathers, breadwinners. Every death had a knock-on effect on families. Picking up the pieces and rebuilding those shattered lives, along with businesses and confidence in the police’s ability to protect citizens and property, will be a long and painful process.

Seeing some of the perpetrators of violence and theft being punished for their crimes will hopefully restore some faith in the government’s ability to hold the culprits accountable.

On Friday, Mvelo Majola was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment by the Durban regional court after pleading guilty to stealing a truck during the riots. He planned to abandon it after using the vehicle to visit family.

The wheels of justice are turning slowly, but the pain of losing loved ones will be raw for a long time.