Johannesburg - Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel, who was appearing at the South African Human Rights Commission hearings in Sandton on Friday, said there were lessons to be learnt from what happened in the July riots.
He said it was a law and order failure, but the context in which it took place was deeply and profoundly influenced by socio-economic factors.
Thousands of businesses were destroyed during the riots and this left a R50 billion hole in the economy.
When the commission asked what his role was as a minister, he said: “Our job is to find ways of promoting levels of industrialisation of the productive sector of the economy.”
He said that what happened in July last year was one of the most challenging and difficult moments in our democracy. He also said that he welcomed and acknowledged what the commission was trying to bring about through the hearings.
“The normative frame that the commission is bringing here is to look at the impact of what happened on the constitutional rights of citizens. Most importantly for us to have some learnings and lessons of what happened,” Patel said.
#JulyUnrest: Minister #EbrahimPatel says if they do not build the State then "we will continue to have the level of frustration and anger spilling over that we saw in July." 🎥: @Kamogelo_Vegaa @IOL #SAHRC pic.twitter.com/jt01sPvASr
— IOL Politics (@IOLPolitics) February 25, 2022
Answering to the questions during the July unrest hearings, he said they had prepared submissions in the hope that the commissioners would go through them.
“They amount to about 350 pages in all, it consists of a 38 page summary and a number of inactions that provide additional information, and the good news is it’s not my intention to go through them at all,” he said.
“Looking at my department, I can easily point to the things that could have been done differently before the unrest. If we are defensive as the economics ministry, we are not going to learn the lessons and we will not do what we need to do for South Africa,” he said.
#JulyUnrest: "Looking at my department, I can point the things that could have been done differently before the unrest," Minister #EbrahimPatel tells the @SAHRCommission . 🎥: @Kamogelo_Vegaa @IOL #SAHRChearings pic.twitter.com/2vdkJz2umj
— IOL Politics (@IOLPolitics) February 25, 2022
He believed that there were people with an agenda that had nothing to do with transformation, nothing to do with improving the lives of ordinary South Africans, who exploited the frustrations and anger of people.
“When people are hungry and they don’t have the opportunity, they are more susceptible to calls to act outside of the constitution order,” he added.
The minister agreed with the commission that the unrest really damaged the country in terms of economy and infrastructure and that it would take time to recover.
So far, the ministers that have appeared before the commission believe that the whole unrest was organised and focused, with the intention to damage the state.
Political Bureau