RACIST social media messages, a lack of intervention by Indian police officers, and private security companies “taking the law into their own hands”, were among the key drivers of the “racially motivated” attacks in Phoenix during the July 2021 unrest.
These were some of the findings of the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) when it released its 252 page report on Monday into the unrest that broke out in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
It also found that historical references by victims during interviews to the “racialised” events that occurred in Cato Manor in 1949 and in Inanda in 1985, “justifies, explains or clarifies the interracial violence between Africans and Indians” in Phoenix.
The mayhem that unfolded from July 9 to 18, 2021, resulted in 353 people being killed and more than 100 injured. It affected 40 000 businesses, 50 000
