Burnt tires, cut roads, fires and looting: sporadic violence has emerged in recent days in South Africa, first in Zulu country and then in Johannesburg, causing concern among the authorities.
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Police have made 62 arrests since Friday: 37 in Kwazulu-Natal province (KZN, East) and 25 in poor neighborhoods in the economic capital, according to a statement released at midday on Sunday.
In the east, protests of discontent erupted in the wake of the incarceration on Thursday of former president Jacob Zuma, convicted of contempt.
The national road connecting Durban to Johannesburg was blocked on Friday by protesters, especially near Escourt prison where he is located, and 23 trucks were set on fire.
This unrest, initially sparked by the fate of Mr. Zuma, incorporates the economic desperation felt by a large segment of the unemployed population as the country suffers new restrictions linked to a deadly third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
“
We do not yet know the reason for the overflows.
What we know is that all the shops, all the cars were looted,
”Sphamandla Ndlazi commented to AFP on Sunday, in Jeppe, an underprivileged district of Johannesburg.
"It's
hard to know what's behind it, the reason for it all
," admitted the distraught young man in a T-shirt and cap.
President Cyril Ramaphosa reiterated his concern Sunday evening over this "
sporadic but increasingly violent
"
violence
, during a televised speech devoted to the pandemic.