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Burning department store in Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal Province
Photo: ROGAN WARD / REUTERS
In South Africa there are apparently limited riots in other provinces.
As a photographer reported to the Reuters news agency, several shops were looted in the town of Hammersdale in Mpumalanga province.
The police also said, according to consistent reports, that there had been incidents in the provinces of Mpumalanga and Northern Cape, which is why the security forces are now intensifying patrols in some areas.
Most recently there were 72 deaths in riots, looting and arson in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
According to the government, the military, which has meanwhile been mobilized to support the police, was stationed primarily at strategic points around hospitals and airports, but also in the Alexandra township near Johannesburg.
Increase in attacks on Somalis
At least four Somali foreigners were also killed and others injured during the riot.
As confirmed by the Somali Foreign Ministry, numerous Somali shops in KwaZulu-Natal were also looted.
Somali traders have been repeatedly targeted in attacks in South Africa in the past.
The Somali Foreign Office appealed to the South African government to protect Somali citizens from brutal attacks.
As reported by Reuters, the country's largest oil refinery in Durban (also KwaZulu-Natal province) was temporarily closed on Wednesday.
The riots are meanwhile increasingly affecting the supply situation in the country.
Many vaccination centers are closed because of the unrest, the vaccination campaign is stalling.
Economic damage running into billions
The National Hospital Network, which, according to Reuters, represents 241 clinics in the country, also reported bottlenecks in oxygen and pharmaceuticals.
One of the most important connections - the N3 motorway from Africa's most important port in Durban to Johannesburg - has been closed for days.
The estimated damage to the country's previously ailing economy is now estimated at tens of millions.
The riots began as a form of protest against the imprisonment of ex-President Jacob Zuma;
Within a few days, however, they developed into large-scale riots in the industrial heart of the country around Johannesburg and Zuma's home province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Zuma was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment for disregard of justice, which he served last Wednesday.
He has to answer before a commission of inquiry into various allegations of corruption during his term of office (2009-2018), but did not accept a subpoena.
African Union urges restoration of order
The African Union (AU) made an urgent call for order to be restored in the face of the violence.
According to media reports, vigilante groups were formed in the affected areas to prevent the looted and often destroyed industrial areas from spilling over into the residential areas.
fek / dpa
