The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Military begins patrols in South Africa's areas of tension

2021-07-13T19:53:15.576Z


Violent riots plunge South Africa into chaos following the imprisonment of ex-President Zuma. In a climate of lawlessness there is plunder. There are dead. Now the military should judge it.


Violent riots plunge South Africa into chaos following the imprisonment of ex-President Zuma.

In a climate of lawlessness there is plunder.

There are dead.

Now the military should judge it.

Durban - Burning blockades, shots, chaos and powerless police officers: In South Africa's economic center around Johannesburg and in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, violence has been raging for days.

There are dead and injured, shopping malls on fire and highways and trunk roads blocked. They bring important logistics chains, but also buses and trains in Africa's strongest economy, to a standstill. The willingness to use violence is shocking.

The days of violent protests continued in South Africa on Tuesday. Although, according to government reports, the military has started patrols in the affected regions - the Gauteng Province around Johannesburg and the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal - the arson and looting continued unhindered, in some cases in front of the camera. The number of victims also increased. At least 72 people died as a result of the riot, said a spokeswoman for the special security forces unit, NatJOINTS, on Tuesday evening. The premiers of the two provinces concerned had previously spoken of 45 dead.

Given the overwhelming number of looters, the police intervened relatively late in many places. There have been around 1,250 arrests so far. The estimated damage now amounts to 1 billion rand (60 million euros), according to the premier of the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Sihle Zikalala. Police Minister Bheki Cele warned local residents not to take the law into their own hands. State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo reported that security agencies are also examining reports of attacks against foreigners in KwaZulu-Natal province and tensions between different groups.

What began as a protest against the imprisonment of ex-President Jacob Zuma has developed into large-scale riots within a few days. These would have interrupted important supply chains that could expose South Africa to “a great risk of food and drug insecurity” within a few weeks, warned President Cyril Ramaphosa in a televised address on Monday evening. This could have life-threatening consequences, especially during the corona pandemic.

The northern province of Gauteng with the economic metropolis of Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria as well as Zuma's eastern home province of KwaZulu-Natal are particularly affected. In the port city of Durban, which is particularly badly affected there, the city administration announced on Tuesday that there could be problems because of the protests with the city supply services - such as the water supply. Urgent repair work could not be carried out.

"It looks like a sale shortly after Christmas," said a reporter who watched crowds of people with the police. Eyewitnesses reported in front of the camera on people who drove up in mid-range cars and took away refrigerators, beds, clothes, shoes or even furniture. The law enforcement officers had to watch powerlessly in view of the overwhelming numbers or take cover from stone throwers. Looters played cat and mouse and came back as soon as the cops were gone.

Everything that could be taken with you was carried away: cell phones, TV sets, bags full of groceries, but also doors or tills. Even a picture of a young man with a dildo in hand made the rounds on social media. There - for example in Durban - neighborhood help was organized to prevent the anarchy from spilling over into the residential areas. According to the German consulate, almost 5,000 Germans - and about three times the number of so-called "Springbok Germans" - South Africans of German origin live in the local province of KwaZulu-Natal. “Our community is on standby - they are even burning sugar farms down,” said Chris Schädle, who runs his “Siggi's” restaurant in the coastal town of Salt Rock.

In the port city of Durban, for example, a celebration of the German school was overshadowed by the violence.

Aerial photos from the TV station eNCA showed several large warehouses and shopping centers in flames, while people with apparently looted goods were leaving the premises on the ground.

From a hardware store, people with building materials ran down an empty highway.

The TV reporter in the helicopter spoke of "apocalyptic scenes" and only noticed a police car on site - the military was also not to be seen.

Hostile sentiment towards the media

A little further on, a completely clogged motorway could be seen with cars coming from a shopping center fully loaded. Similar images of the destruction could also be seen from the air from the Johannesburg suburb of Soweto. Journalists reported that there was a hostile atmosphere towards media representatives, and a journalist's camera was stolen. "This country is destroying itself," said the former Interior Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who comes from the province of KwaZulu-Natal surrounding Durban. "South Africa is at war with itself - it breaks my heart," he said.

The city of Durban has one of the most important ports on the continent - the N3 motorway from Durban to the industrial center around Johannesburg is one of the country's most important transport axes.

It is now closed indefinitely, given the many trucks that have been flared.

President Ramaphosa warned that vaccination campaigns against Covid-19, as well as food security, are at risk.

Zuma's incarceration was considered a milestone

Although Nelson Mandela's dream of a peaceful rainbow nation has been clouded time and again in the past by excesses of violence against Africans from other parts of the continent, a nightmare looms now. "Ramaphosa tells us that he no longer has control," said the spokesman for the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Vuyani Pemba, in a TV interview. The president is fighting on several fronts: on the one hand, he has to stop the galloping numbers of infections in what is now the third wave of corona infections, and on the other hand, he has to reform his African National Congress (ANC), which was increasingly stuck in the swamp of a clique of clients and favorites under the tenure of his predecessor Jacob Zuma . Zuma's imprisonment was therefore an important milestone for the young democracy.

In addition, the head of state urgently needs to create jobs. Because one of the toughest curfews in the world has exacerbated the pre-pandemic economic crisis in the Cape. Entire industries - for example in the tourism sector - groaned under restrictions. Many companies gave up. Those who persevered are now confronted with new worries: shop fittings destroyed, goods looted, no more money in the till. Numerous jobs are in danger of being lost. The military is now supposed to enforce security with the police - which in turn displeases the populist EFF politician Julius Malema. He announced protests by his supporters in the event of mobilization. dpa

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-07-13

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.