Three more people believed to be instigators will appear in the Durban regional court on Monday after their arrest in connection with last year's July unrest.
Hawks spokesperson Brig Thandi Mbambo said two people were arrested in KwaZulu-Natal on Friday, while the third person was arrested in the North West on Saturday.
Mbambo said among the two arrested on Friday is a police sergeant.
“Their arrest was part of the operation which we had earlier in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and Western Cape. After their appearance on Monday, they will join the others on August 22. They are all facing the charges of conspiracy to commit public violence, incitement to commit public violence and arson,” Mbambo said.
On Friday, 22 people appeared in the Durban magistrate’s court after their arrest in different provinces. They were released on R3,000 bail each. They were arrested as part of a Hawks operation to nab alleged instigators who incited public violence through social media and other platforms during widespread looting and destruction in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng last year.
Among those who appeared in court was ANC Youth League leader in the Musa Dladla region, Empangeni, Sanele Masuku.
“These people were using social media platforms, hence we brought in our cyber crime unit as well as digital forensics from the Hawks. That is how we got to trace them but I cannot give more details. There are still many more that we still need to follow up. We do have a figure but it will be difficult to mention it at this stage. There is still many more that we are still going to arrest,” Mbambo said.
Sowetan’s sister publication, Sunday Times, reported on Sunday that officers arrived in KwaZulu-Natal for a major operation to arrest 85 people the next morning. However, an issue over jurisdiction meant that the relevant magistrate could not authorise some of the arrest warrants.
During the unrest, more than 300 people died when violent protest erupted in KwaZulu-Natal and then Gauteng over the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma for contempt of court.
The protest, which President Cyril Ramaphosa described as an insurgence, left a trail of damage to private and public property and forced some of the businesses in the two provinces to close.
The government was forced to deploy the SA National Defence Force to contain the violence from spreading to the rest of the country.
dlaminip@sowetan.co.za
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