The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Wednesday expressed concern that the State, in particular the Justice, Crime Prevention, and Security Cluster of Cabinet, has not been able to identify and prosecute the primary instigators or orchestrators of the 2021 July unrest.

This year marks three years since the occurrence of the unrest, which claimed the lives of more than 350 people in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

The SAHRC released its 'Final Report on the National Investigative Hearing into the July 2021 Unrest' in January, where it presented recommendations that aim to address some of the systemic and contributory factors that contributed to or exacerbated the unrest.

The recommendations identify the need for significant changes in the intelligence, policing, security and justice sectors.

The Commission said it was disappointed by the lack of encouraging responses from government and other implicated entities six months later, saying it would write to the Speaker of the National Assembly Thoko Didiza for intervention.

The implicated institutions were given 90 days to report to the Commission on measures they would take in responding to and implementing the recommendations.

The SAHRC added that if current engagements did not yield the desired results, it would consider litigation as empowered by the Constitution.

The SAHRC highlighted that as of the end of March 2024, the South African Police Service, the National Prosecuting Authority, and Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority provided the Commission with responses, plans and progress reports on implementing the Final Report recommendations.

However, the Department of Justice has requested an extension to provide their implementation plans, while the Commission is awaiting responses from the Presidency, the State Security Agency, and the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition,” it said.

The Commission noted that citizens remained in heightened states of vulnerability to gross human rights violations in the absence of any evidence-led prosecutions of those who planned and sponsored the July unrest.

The Commission has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa and Ministers whose departments were implicated in the SAHRC July Unrest report, seeking answers regarding the implementation of the report's recommendations.