POVERTY

THE unrest took place against the backdrop of deep levels of poverty, unemployment and inequality. There is often a toxic overlap between race and inequality. These conditions provided fertile grounds for agent provocateurs and those with ill-intent and ulterior motives. In this regard, we submit the following categories:

◆ The masses of poor who participated in looting, while instigated, were largely opportunistic and did not participate with the associated demands.

◆ There were also those who participated who cannot be characterised as indigent and arrived in nice motor vehicles to derive a share of the spoils.

◆ The third category can only be described as organised crime where people came equipped with angle grinders to cut out ATM machines, trucks to load large amounts of looted goods, and even large items. Some even used hysters to move or load looted goods.

◆ Finally, there was the group that must bear maximum culpability. This is that group of people who, individually or collectively, organised, co-ordinated and incited the unrest with a diabolical agenda that is to destabilise the democratic state and advance a political agenda.