Cele: Zuma's arrest one of the factors which caused July unrest

Cele was testifying at the South African Human Rights Commission hearings in Gauteng on Monday. 

"Score of people were going Nkandla, scores of cars were driven blocking the roads. I remember the provincial commissioner of KZN physically on the street trying to negotiate. It did not just come boom. There was build up going towards that." 

Last year, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng became scenes of chaos as shops and other businesses were looted and vandalised.

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Over 300 people died during the riots. 

He says the SAPS was not prepared for what was about to unfold because there was a lack of intelligence. 

"Clearly, there was something coming, but the arrest of the former president was one of those things that ignited what you saw. Without any form of formal information, maybe intelligence, it was clear that something was coming."