Eight Days in July: Inside the Zuma unrest that set South Africa alight

by Kaveel Singh

In July 2021, with Jacob Zuma's imprisonment, dramatic and violent scenes of unrest and looting unfolded in KZN and Gauteng. More than 340 people lost their lives, and the damage exceeded R50 billion. 
Piecing together the full story, journalists Qaanitah Hunter, Jeff Wicks and Kaveel Singh sifted through hundreds of pages of leaked documents and intelligence briefs.
Eight Days in July is a riveting first-hand account of what really happened, reported from the epicentre of the chaos.

218 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 25, 2021

Reviews

[Linda De Beer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Living in a rural town in Kwazulu-Natal that suffered substantial destruction during the riots of July 2021, I wanted to get an idea of what caused them. I was also looking for an explanation of why they seemed to start simultaneously in many rural towns, particularly in the northern part of the province. This book gave an excellent account of what happened in the various areas, and I appreciated the way it was written in chronological order. It made it possible to correlate what happened in our town with what was happening in the rest of the province and provided a better overall understanding of a truly alarming set of events. Thank you to the authors.

[Rodney Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

It adds context, but not enough, I feel. The best parts are the journalist's recollections of the event, but what about from the security cluster?

What happened to the person caught on TV trying to stuff a TV into his boot?
What happened inside the ANC afterwards?

I have more questions after I read this book than before.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riveting read. For those who lived through this traumatic time in recent South African history the book conjures up the painful memories of a time when KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng descended into chaos and anarchy of looting and rioting. I believe there is room for a second edition to further add information about the aftermath of the eight day insurrection.

[The Contented · Rating 2 out of 5]

To my mind, the key question should be ‘could something like this happen again?’. The book does not answer this question, and it only really skims the surface of the politics involved.