Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has insisted that the people behind the attacks on the malls and businesses in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal were counter-revolutionaries.
She told the joint standing committee on intelligence that this was not a coup or insurrection, but counter-revolution.
If this was a coup or insurrection those behind it must show their faces in public, said Mapisa-Nqakula.
“Our view is that it is none of those. We heard people making reference to the insurrection or coup. If it is an insurrection or coup, it must have a face. Our view is that we are seeing signs of counter-revolution, which is creeping up in the form of hooliganism and thuggery,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.
She said with the plan of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to contain the looting and violence, the situation would become stable.
The government has deployed thousands of troops in various parts of the country.
They were also protecting key infrastructure.
“With the plan they are putting in, we are optimistic we will overcome this,” she said.
She said the state had come under attack from counter-revolutionaries.
“The democratic state of South Africa is under threat and it is threatened by counter-revolution. If this raises its head again, we must hit very hard,” said Mapisa-Nqakula.
The deployment of the SANDF served as a deterrent against the attacks. The army will continue to serve its mission where it is deployed.
Mapisa-Nqakula said they would not allow counter-revolutionaries to attack the state.
“Our democratic state cannot be threatened in the way it was. There is no coup here, there is no insurrection, this is counter-revolution,” said Mapisa-Nqakula.
Political Bureau