Johannesburg - The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) hearings had to be adjourned on Wednesday when the witness who was due to give evidence failed to pitch at the hearings.
The hearing was scheduled to start at 9am, however, by midday, the witness still had not arrived.
The SAHRC commissioners were locked in a meeting on Wednesday morning to decide how to proceed for the day.
SANDF chief General Rudzani Maphwanya was scheduled to take the stand.
He was meant to provide insight on the role of the SANDF during the July unrest and details around their deployment, including the mandate signed off by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Commission decided to postpone proceedings until Thursday.
This week, the SAHRC hearings resumed in Gauteng with Police Minister Bheki Cele, former acting Gauteng police commissioner Major-General Thomas “Tommy” Mthombeni and former State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo taking the stand.
Cele classified the July unrest attacks as targeted and focused.
He clarified that the appetite of completely undermining the elected structure was evident in the manner in which the unrest was co-ordinated.
Dlodlo told the SAHRC that she had not failed in her duties as she gave information “to the relevant structures that were tasked with passing on information to ministers”.
She said it was not her fault that those structures had failed in their duties.
Dlodlo said those at the State Security Agency (SSA) did all they could under the circumstances. She did not take lightly to suggestions that the agency was not co-operating with other law enforcement bodies.
Meanwhile, Mthombeni was standing in for provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela, who was on extended leave after medical procedures. He told the commission that he had not received any prior reports warning them about the looming threat of unrest.
Political Bureau