Looting in S. Africa beginning to die down
Print Edition
A WEEK of violence that has engulfed South Africa slowly began to ebb yesterday, and people counted the cost of an orgy of arson and looting that has destroyed hundreds of businesses and killed at least 70 people.
Looting continued in parts of the eastern port city of Durban, but in much of the main commercial city Johannesburg, shopkeepers and other residents sifted through the debris, cleared up trash and assessed what remained of their ruined businesses.
At Diepkloof Mall in Soweto, South Africa鈥檚 biggest township and one of the worst affected areas, about 50 people swept up broken glass and packed empty shoe boxes into plastic rubbish bags, a Reuters reporter said.
Clothing stores like Mr Price, Rage and Ackermans were empty, with only clothing racks and naked mannequins scattered across the floor.
鈥淚t鈥檚 heartbreaking. Very, very heartbreaking. Everything is gone. It鈥檚 going to take months to be back up again,鈥 said Ricardo Desousa, manager of a ransacked butcher shop in Soweto鈥檚 Bara Mall.
Anger and hardship
His staff were helping clean up the damage. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not going to get paid,鈥 he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no money.鈥
The riots initially started in response to the jailing of ex-president Jacob Zuma last week for his failure to appear at a corruption inquiry. But they swiftly degenerated into looting and destruction, driven by widespread anger over the hardship and inequality that nearly three decades of democracy since the end of apartheid have failed to address.
Half the population lives below the poverty line, according to the latest government figures from 2015, and growing joblessness since the coronavirus pandemic began has left many desperate. Unemployment stood at a record high of 32.6 percent in the first three months of 2021.
Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said on Wednesday she wanted to deploy up to 25,000 soldiers in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces, where security forces were struggling to quell the days of looting, arson and violence.
Authorities say 5,000 troops were already on the streets since Wednesday, double the number originally planned. It was unclear when the rest would arrive. Security forces have arrested at least 1,350 people.
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