Riots and looting
On 9 July 2021, the same day
KwaZulu-Natal's high court upheld his conviction and prison sentence, the unrest
began. Public violence, burglary, and
malicious damage to property were reported in parts of KwaZulu-Natal, with at
least 28 people being arrested and a highway being blocked. The riots continued on the evening of Sunday,
11 July 2021, when multiple news sources indicated reports of gunshots and
explosions heard at local malls and residential areas. The violence quickly escalated, and by the
morning of Monday, 12 July 2021, multiple companies and malls were forced to
close following widespread looting and violence. As of 16 July, 212 people have died due to
the unrest, and 2,554 have been arrested.
Initial estimates by the South African Property Owners Association
(SAPOA) puts the losses in excess of R20 billion.
Racial tensions
In the Indian-majority town of Phoenix,
KwaZulu-Natal, some of the residents had armed themselves to fight off looters.
This in turn stoked racial tensions between the black and Indian South African
citizens, with several racially motivated attacks reported to have taken place. Indian Minister of External Affairs S.
Jaishankar raised the issue of the safety of Indian-origin people with the
South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor,
who assured him that the government was trying its best to restore law and
order. Police Minister Bheki Cele stated
that the main motive behind the Phoenix riots was criminal and that racial
issues were secondary. He confirmed that 20 people had died in the town in the
unrest. He also warned people against falling for fake news designed to
increase racial tensions.
Incitement
Jacob Zuma's daughter, Duduzile
Zuma-Sambudla, is allegedly among those who have encouraged the looting and
violence in order to secure the release of her father as an unverified Twitter
account under her name encouraged people to protest. According to State Security Minister, Ayanda
Dlodlo, they are investigating information as to whether senior former agents
in the intelligence agency and senior ANC members aligned to former president
Jacob Zuma are responsible for igniting the recent violence in KwaZulu-Natal
and Gauteng. Police Minister Bheki Cele added
that the security cluster is looking at ten to twelve people who were fueling
the riots through social media. Thulani
Dlomo, the former head of the State Security Agency special operations unit and
a loyal supporter of Zuma, is also reported to be under investigation for
inciting unrest.
State response
Initially, the South African Police
Service (SAPS) was deployed in the Nkandla district to control the number of
protests in the area.
Over the weekend, as the South African
Police Service (SAPS) battled to contain the large-scale looting and damage to
infrastructure, pressure mounted on government to deploy the army.
On the morning of Monday, 12 July 2021,
the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was deployed in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal,
as part of Operation Prosper.
On 12 July 2021, president Cyril
Ramaphosa addressed the riots, saying that the acts of public violence have
been "rarely seen" in democratic South Africa. Ramaphosa referred to
the riots as opportunistic acts of violence, citing the lack of grievance, nor
any political cause, that can justify the destruction by the protestors. He
highlighted the Constitution of South Africa, which guarantees the rights of
everyone to express themselves, but stated that the victims of the violence
unfolding are the workers, truck drivers, business owners, the parents of those
who have lost their lives have all done nothing wrong. He went on to discuss
the impact of the riots on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, stating that it has
been drastically disrupted after prior setbacks. He also noted how the economy
of the country would face further challenges due to food and medication
insecurity resulting from the riots. The deployment of SANDF to assist with
ending the unrest was also discussed by him.
On the same day, the South African
Constitutional Court reserved its previous judgement and rejected Zuma's bid to
rescind his prison sentence. As a result
of the decision, Zuma is required to remain imprisoned.
On 14 July 2021, the Minister of Defence
and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said that the SANDF had increased
the deployed number of troops to 25,000.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_South_African_unrest
Update: 2021 South African unrest - Wikipedia
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