Looting and fires were raging Monday, July 12 in South Africa, on the fourth day of violence initially triggered by the incarceration of former President Jacob Zuma, but which now seems to be more of delinquency and economic despair.
Read also: In South Africa, Jacob Zuma resists the country's justice
Blocked roads and shopping centers ravaged by crowds: local televisions were broadcasting live images of tense situations in Kwazulu-Natal province (East), where Jacob Zuma was imprisoned on Thursday and where the first manifestations of anger escalated from the next day, but also in the economic capital Johannesburg.
These images included a huge black plume above the Brookside Mall in Piertemartizburg (East) and looters rushing towards the entrance to the burning building as others came out with full carts of merchandise.
A dozen suspects arrested
A supermarket in Eshowe, a town located about thirty kilometers from Nkandla, where Jacob Zuma has a sumptuous residence renovated at the expense of the taxpayer under his presidency (2009-2018), was robbed on Monday morning before the arrival of the police who dispersed the crowd by firing rubber bullets, as already the day before in the poor neighborhoods of Johannesburg.
Trucks were set on fire along a national road near Durban, a major port in southern Africa, along with scores of cars in the two affected regions.
In Johannesburg, looting continued overnight from Sunday to Monday.
And sections of the highway remained blocked in the morning, according to the police.
Dozens of suspects have been arrested, according to the police.
Read also: South Africa: sporadic violence in Zulu country and Johannesburg
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday evening reiterated a call for calm, worrying about this "
sporadic but increasingly violent
"
violence
.
"
Some probably feel hurt and angry, but nothing justifies such destructive actions
", which may still plague a weakened economy, pleaded the president.
Jacob Zuma was taken prisoner Thursday, after being sentenced at the end of June to 15 months in prison for refusing to testify before a commission investigating state corruption under his chairmanship.
This former anti-apartheid fighter remains popular, especially in Zulu country, his region of origin.