SAHRC hears media 'fanned the flames' in Phoenix during July unrest
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is on Tuesday hearing testimony from those who were affected by the violence that rocked the Phoenix suburb, north of Durban, during July's rampant looting and riots.
It's day two of the investigative hearings into the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
In Phoenix, 36 people were killed in attacks believed to be racially motivated.
Sham Maharaj, who's with the Phoenix Ubuntu Forum, says the media played a role in fanning the flames of racial tension.
Maharaj says they set up the forum to assist people with food and tried to use social media to restore calm, but that didn't help.
"So we used very positively social media to ask people to calm down. We got those messages. I'd been myself on video to many of the people around Phoenix and outside of Phoenix, people have seen it also and came back to us and said, you are doing the responsible thing.
"To ask people to remain calm, there's no invasion in Phoenix. People are coming and looting there is no invasion, nobody is going got die, so calm down. But yes, images which went on social media really didn't help the situation."
56 people have since been arrested in connection with the killings in Phoenix.
