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News > South Africa

45 South Africans Die in Wave of Mass Looting and Violence

  • Citizens barricade a road during a protest against the incarceration of ex-President Jacob Zuma in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 11, 2021.

    Citizens barricade a road during a protest against the incarceration of ex-President Jacob Zuma in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 11, 2021. | Photo: Xinhua

Published 13 July 2021
Opinion

The spate of protests began on July 9 following the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma. To counter the incidents, authorities have deployed 2,500 soldiers.

South African authorities confirmed that 45 people were killed and 757 arrested because of violent riots in several parts of the country over the past few days.

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The spate of mass looting and indiscriminate vandalism began Friday following the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma. To counter the incidents, authorities have deployed 2,500 soldiers to the streets so far. The most serious incidents occurred in KwaZulu-Natal province and Gauteng province.

On Tuesday morning, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala confirmed the death of 26 citizens and the continuation of riots and looting around the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg. Gauteng Premier David Makhura confirmed 19 deaths, 10 of which occurred because of a stampede at a shopping mall in the former black ghetto district of Soweto.

"No dissatisfaction or personal circumstances of our people give anyone the right to loot, vandalize and do whatever they want and break the law," said Security Minister Bheki Cele, who has been harshly criticized for the inability of the security forces to handle the wave of vandalism.

The violence began on Friday in KwaZulu-Natal, the home province of former president Jacob Zuma, who on June 29 was sentenced to 15 months in jail for contempt of court after he refused to testify in a corruption case.

Although the former president himself surrendered peacefully to the authorities on July 7, his fellow countrymen blocked roads as a show of support for Zuma. In the following days, the demonstrations spread to areas around Johannesburg.

These riots come at the worst moment of a wave of COVID-19 cases in a country which has reported over 2.2 million infections and some 64,000 deaths so far. On Monday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that the chaotic situation will impact food security, worse the epidemiological situation, and hamper economic recovery.

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