Death toll increases to 45 in South Africa riots triggered by jailing of Jacob Zuma

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Crowds have clashed with police and ransacked or burned shopping malls in South Africa, with dozens killed as grievances unleashed by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma boil over into the nation’s worst violence in years.

Key points:

The death toll from the violence sparked by ex-president Jacob Zuma’s jailing increases to 45 and more than 700 arrests have been made
Soldiers have been deployed to flashpoints, but a state of emergency has yet to be declared
Mr Zuma is waiting to hear if his application to overturn his sentence has been successful

Protests that followed Mr Zuma’s arrest last week have widened into looting and an outpouring of anger over inequality that has persisted 27 years after the fall of apartheid.

Poverty in South Africa has been exacerbated by severe social and economic restrictions aimed at blocking the spread of COVID-19.

Security officials said the government was working to halt the spread of the violence and looting, which has so far ranged from Mr Zuma’s home in KwaZulu-Natal province to Gauteng province, home to the country’s biggest city Johannesburg.

A soldier stands next to a person in a pink hoody who is sitting on the ground — More than 700 people have been arrested throughout South Africa since the start of the violence and looting.(Reuters: Siphiwe Sibeko)

Authorities deployed soldiers onto the streets to try to contain the situation but stopped short of declaring a state of emergency.

“No amount of unhappiness or personal circumstances from our people gives the right to anyone to loot, vandalise and do as they please and break the law,” Police Minister Bheki Cele told a news conference, echoing sentiments expressed by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The bodies of 10 people were found on Monday evening after a stampede at a Soweto shopping mall, Premier David Makhura said.

Two police officers with rifles pointed walk alongside a fence — Police officers fire at protesters who had just stormed their way through a mall.(Reuters: Siphiwe Sibeko)

Hundreds of looters raided warehouses and supermarkets in Durban, one of the busiest shipping terminals on the African continent and a major import-export hub.

Outside a Durban warehouse, Reuters filmed looters stuffing cars with electronic goods and clothes.

Inside, the floor was littered with discarded packaging as the crowd systematically emptied the shelves.

Aerial footage from local channel eNCA showed black smoke rising from several warehouses, while debris lay strewn about.

Troops were moving into flashpoints on Tuesday as outnumbered police seemed helpless to stop the unrest. Columns of armoured personnel carriers rolled down highways.

The rand, which had been one of the best-performing emerging market currencies during the pandemic, dropped to a three-month low on Tuesday, and local and hard currency bonds suffered.

People walk through a ransacked building. — The riots were sparked by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma, who has been sentenced to 15 months.(Reuters: Siphiwe Sibeko)

Death toll rises to 45

At least 45 people have so far been killed during the unrest, 19 in Gauteng and 26 in KwaZulu-Natal, according to state and provincial authorities.

The Police Minister, Mr Cele, put the official death toll at 10.

On the streets, protesters hurled stones, while police responded with rubber bullets and in Soweto, police and military were patrolling as shop owners assessed the damage.

A man sits in dark clothing in front of damaged shops — Protesters have ransacked malls and looted from shops that were abandoned by their owners who fled the violence.(Reuters: Siphiwe Sibeko)

Mr Cele said 757 people had been arrested so far.

Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, speaking at the same news conference, said she did not think a state of emergency should be imposed yet.

Mr Zuma, 79, was sentenced last month for defying a constitutional court order to give evidence at an inquiry investigating high-level corruption during his nine years in office until 2018.

Protesters sit on the ground as a soldier walks behind them — The death toll from the riots continues to climb, but there are disputing numbers being released by authorities.(Reuters: Siphiwe Sibeko)

The legal proceedings have been seen as a test of post-apartheid South Africa’s ability to enforce the rule of law.

But any confrontation with soldiers risks fuelling charges by Mr Zuma and his supporters that they are victims of a politically motivated crackdown by his successor.

The violence worsened as Mr Zuma challenged his 15-month jail term in South Africa’s top court on Monday.

Judgement was reserved until an unspecified date.

–Reuters