Accountabili-TEA South Africa

Onius Moganedi is from Ga-Sekhukhune in Limpopo Province where he runs an economic development forum for young people in his community. He too blames poverty and unemployment for the unprecedented events of July 2021. He argues that people were stealing because they saw an opportunity to "loot" for the basic necessities of life and provide for their households.

Dineo Kgopong is a student at the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria. She’s not convinced that the riots were instigated by former president Jacob Zuma’s supporters protesting the confirmation of his conviction for contempt of judicial proceedings, as was widely reported. For her, prevailing socio-economic challenges are at the heart of the matter.

Anelisa Matebese is a media strategist from the East of Johannesburg. She believes that the unrest was triggered by poverty. She argues that  among the people who participated in the riots and looting of shops and businesses are  poor and hungry people who have opted for criminal conduct for their survival.

Palesa Manaleng is a journalist, hand cyclist and university student in Johannesburg. She argues that the social unrest that unfolded in July 2021 was caused by more than former President Jacob Zuma being remanded to prison to serve his contempt of court proceedings conviction. She makes connections between structural racism and the high unemployment rate as some of the conditions which made the social unrest possible.

Following the social unrest that erupted in July, this year, Accountability Lab South Africa undertook a listening campaign to hear, platform and amplify the Voices of the Youth in South Africa. We spoke to eight young people from across South Africa who unpacked why the social unrest happened in the first place, what it tells us about the social conditions young people in South Africa are living under, and what young people’s hopes are for a more accountable, inclusive and responsive government.