Hawks arrest 9 more 'instigators' of deadly July unrest

Hawks spokesperson Nomthandazo Mbambo said the suspects were arrested on Tuesday morning in various areas around Gauteng. The latest arrests bring the total number of arrested alleged instigators to 44.

"These persons of interest will be brought before court soon on charges of conspiracy to public violence, incitement to public violence, and incitement to arson. Investigation continues,” Mbambo said.

At the same time, Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya said that the social media posts around the July unrest that appeared in public have been investigated.

Lebeya was giving an update on the milestones achieved by the directorate since his appointment in 2018. 

He said while the investigation process into the deadly 2021 riots is complex,  all available evidence has been considered.

"The public should rest assured that nothing that appeared in public was left unattended. As to the evidence that we tabled before the prosecuting authority to make a determination of prosecuting or otherwise is a different matter. There are certain things that may appear in the media space which we obviously take note of that, package in a docket and after completion table it before the prosecution.”

ALSO READ:

Lebeya said Tuesday's arrests put them at the halfway mark towards the targeted arrests in the matter.

However, questions continue to be raised about high-profile individuals who are alleged to be endorsing and inciting violence during the deadly 2021 unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal particularly the daughter of former president Jacob Zuma, Dudu Zuma-Sambudla and other supporters of the Zuma who had begun serving his contempt of court sentence at the time of the riots.

"For us, we are not influenced by any political affiliation. Everybody in South Africa has the right to belong to a political organisation of their choice. When we arrest or investigate individuals, we don't ask them as to whether they belong to a political party, and if so, which party they belong to."