South African Panel Slams Security Agencies’ Riot Response
- Week of unrest claimed 354 lives, saw businesses being looted
- Business delegation urges Ramaphosa to take urgent action
Photographer: Rodger Bosch/AFP/Getty Images
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An investigation into South Africa’s worst riots since the end of apartheid may spur President Cyril Ramaphosa to take action against his embattled police chief.
The panel that probed the causes of the unrest in which 354 people died criticized the breakdown in the relationship between Commissioner Khehla Sitole and Police Minister Bheki Cele. Tensions between the two men led to a failure to “communicate effectively” and an inadequate response from police during the week of violence and looting, it said.