Looting in South Africa, Biggest Riots Since Years

[kellyhound]

The death toll in South Africa has risen to 72 as violence continues across the country following the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma.

Crowds looting and setting alight shopping centres clashed with police in several cities on Tuesday and people defending their homes and businesses.

Ten people were killed in a stampede during looting at a shopping centre in Soweto. Some were set on fire. A woman tried to escape the fire and let her baby drop in the hand of rescuers.

The military have been deployed to help police overstretched since the unrest began last week but some policemen joined the looting.

Trucks have to dump thousands of liters of milk because the depots have all been burned down or abandoned.

South African police said in a statement they had identified 12 people suspected of provoking the riots, and that a total of 1,234 people had been arrested.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called it some of the worst violence witnessed in South Africa since the 1990s, before the end of apartheid, with fires started, highways blocked and businesses and warehouses looted in major cities and small towns in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces.

More than 200 shopping malls had been looted by Monday afternoon. ATMs were broken into, restaurants, stores selling alcohol and clothing shops all left in tatters.

Soldiers working with the police managed to catch a few rioters; in total almost 800 have been arrested, but law enforcement remains heavily outnumbered.

The catalyst was the arrest last week of Zuma, with his supporters blockading major roads - the economic arteries of the nation - as they demanded the release of their political hero.

Low income levels and unemployment - standing at a record high of 32.6% among the workforce and even higher at 46.3% among young people - are seen as the ticking bombs that have exploded.

Many South Africans have been shaken by the riots that have swept through Zuma's political heartland of KwaZulu-Natal and the economic hub of Gauteng.

And many feel that his successor as president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has failed to provide decisive leadership - either to calm anger over Zuma's imprisonment or to reassure South Africans that they will be safe.

Mr Ramaphosa was accused of belatedly deploying troops - and only 2,500 of them compared with the 70,000 he deployed to enforce a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 last year.

But there is no agreement over the deployment - the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) opposition party has opposed it, saying the solution lies in "political intervention and engagement with our people".

Many residents in affected areas have remained at home, and some have formed what local media call "defence squads" to protect their neighbourhoods and businesses as looting and burning continues.

There is no doubt that the unrest is the biggest security challenge that Mr Ramaphosa has faced since he became president in 2018 after ousting Zuma. It is bound to worsen the economic crisis, already hit by the pandemic, given the scale of destruction.

was convicted of contempt of court last month after failing to attend an inquiry into corruption during his presidency.

The 79-year-old, who denies corruption, was given a 15-month prison sentence. He handed himself in to police last Wednesday.

He is hoping to get the sentence rescinded or reduced by the country's constitutional court. However, legal experts say his chances of success are slim.

[18Zulu]

SA was at complete peace under apartheid. The streets were clean, currency had strong value, there were jobs, the economy was booming. Now look at it. The black can not think for itself when it’s allowed it destroys everything.

[SkinnyFella]

I thought disenfranchising the whites would solve everything

[crouchyc5]

Bunch of fucking retards. Let's steal a TV then go fuck our sisters yeee

[chefbob09]

And not a single white,cloured or Indian has been involved in the looting and destruction. And the same people doing this are going to cry tomorrow when there is no pap to eat. Years ago I made the decision to fire every black that worked for me. Have not looked back. Since firing them all I have not had a single incident of theft in my business in over three years now. I employ whites and Indians only and am PROUD of it.

[DaBigNob]

"Where's John with the shotgun?"

[DaBigNob]

Should have called in an artillery strike on that crowd of looters.

[Riddla]

This where Biden's America is headed as well

[b0g]

so those securry guards left 2 boxes of vaccine shots behind?

[Bratislava]

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