Quote:Sporadic violence has erupted in South Africa, with dozens arrested after looting in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, where ex-president Jacob Zuma is in jail, and in the economic capital Johannesburg.
Police said in a statement Sunday they had arrested 37 people in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal and 25 in Johannesburg over the previous two days.

In KwaZulu-Natal, protests broke out a day after Zuma was imprisoned on Thursday.

The N3 highway linking Durban and Johannesburg was blocked for many hours, including a stretch south of Estcourt prison, where Zuma is being held, and 23 trucks were set alight at Mooi River.

While some of the protests appear to have been triggered by Zuma’s 15-month detention for contempt of court, they are tied in with a sense of economic desperation as the country faces tightened restrictions under a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We don’t know yet what the strike is all about… but from what people have been saying it’s something related to our former president,” Sphamandla Ndlazi told AFP in the Jeppe neighbourhood of Johannesburg, with looted shops and burnt cars in the background.

President Cyril Ramaphosa called for calm on Saturday, urging people to “express themselves within the law” and avoid destruction that could further cripple the economy.

In Kwazulu-Natal, the police “had their hands full yesterday and throughout the night”, spokesman Jay Naicker told AFP on Sunday.

“Criminals and opportunistic individuals” took advantage of the tense climate to “enrich themselves”, he added. Several stores were looted, including in the Durban suburb Mariann Hill.

In Johannesburg, hundreds defied restrictions in two disenfranchised suburbs late Saturday, but their protests ended in violence, looting and 25 arrests, police said.

In Jeppe, police dispersed a crowd of 300 who had set up barricades on a main road before looting businesses.

Similar scenes unfolded in Alexandra, one of the poorest townships that neighbours the high-end city of Sandton, where nearly 800 rioters clashed with the police overnight. One officer was shot and hospitalised.

The police said they “remain on high alert” in the two provinces.

South Africa’s top court on June 29 jailed Zuma for refusing to appear before a probe into the corruption that entangled his nine years in power.

But the 79-year-old former anti-apartheid fighter remains popular, especially in his native KwaZulu-Natal where he is seen to embody traditional values.

Source: https://guardian.ng/news/sporadic-violence-hits-kwazulu-natal-and-johannesburg/

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Quote:32 Persons Killed In South Africa’s Riots Over Zuma’s Imprisonment

About 32 people have been killed in the violence which followed protests over the imprisonment of Jacob Zuma, former president of South Africa.

According to AP, Sihle Zikalala, KwaZulu-Natal province premier, told a news conference on Tuesday, that the death toll in the province now stands at 26 — a day after officials confirmed six deaths in Gauteng province.

“Yesterday’s events brought a lot of sadness. The number of people who have died in KwaZulu-Natal alone stands at 26. Many of them died from being trampled on during a stampede while people were looting items,” he said.

The violence which started in KwaZulu-Natal, Zuma’s province, spread to Gauteng province on Sunday with many shops looted and several injured.

The South African military had said it would deploy soldiers in the provinces to assist law enforcement agencies in their effort to calm the unrest.

Looting was, however, said to have continued on Tuesday in Johannesburg shopping malls in township areas.

Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court following his refusal to appear before a graft panel.

The former president had defied an order by the constitutional court in January to appear at an inquiry into allegations of corruption.

He was tried for his alleged involvement in a $5 billion arms deal in the late 90s’.