Every vote is a lifeline for SA’s survival

South Africa watched, stunned, scared and horrified at the images on TV, social media or on their street, as the July 2021 riots erupted and grew.

But the violence should not have come as a surprise.

UKZN graduate and political scientist Ryan Henry, who earned his Master’s degree in social and political studies with his research on the uprising, found its roots had long been planted deep in fertile soil.

The jailing of former president Jacob Zuma was the spark that ignited the tinder box of, among other things, state corruption, internal party manoeuvrings, decades of non-delivery of even the most basic human rights, and fury that spread among a populace who had long