Police have arrested nine more people linked to the July unrest last year. 

The arrests were made in Gauteng, bringing the total number of arrested alleged instigators to 44, police said on Tuesday.

“These persons of interest will be brought before court soon on charges of conspiracy to [commit] public violence, incitement to public violence and incitement to arson.”

At a press briefing hours before, Hawks head Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya said the Hawks had arrested half the people in their sights in this case.

“There are [now 44] arrests effected by the Hawks so far. If one can understand the complex nature of the investigation, the public should rest assured that nothing that appeared in the public [eye] was left unattended,” he said.

“Up to today [Tuesday] we’ve arrested 50% of the people who played a role — I won’t indicate who the others are and I won’t rank them [in terms of their public standing]. In court they can be judged in terms of their role. We are not swayed by political authority.”

The investigation continues.

Most of the arrests have been in KwaZulu-Natal, with a few in the North West and the Free State.

More than a year later, the country is still reeling from the more than R50bn economic knock that resulted from the unrest. It is believed to have stemmed from former president Jacob Zuma's arrest.

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