Africa
Riot Intensifies In S/Africa Over Imprisonment Of Ex-President Jacob Zuma
- Zuma was sentenced last month for defying a constitutional court order to give evidence at an inquiry investigating high-level corruption during his nine years in office
Rioters looted shops and threw stones at police on Tuesday as violent protests triggered by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma spread across South Africa.
The military prepared to send in 2,500 troops as outnumbered police seemed helpless to prevent attacks on businesses in Zuma’s home province KwaZulu-Natal and in Gauteng province, where the country’s biggest city, Johannesburg, is located.
At least 30 people have been killed in days of unrest that broke out last week when Zuma handed himself over to authorities.
Nearly 500 people have been arrested, while shops, petrol stations and government buildings have been forced to close.
Read also: Former South African President Jacob Zuma To Begin Sentence
“What we are witnessing now are opportunistic acts of criminality, with groups of people instigating chaos merely as a cover for looting and theft,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in an address on Monday night.
Seventy-nine-year-old Zuma was sentenced last month for defying a constitutional court order to give evidence at an inquiry investigating high-level corruption during his nine years in office.
Former South African President, Jacob Zuma
The violence worsened as Zuma challenged his 15-month jail term in South Africa’s top court on Monday. Judgement was reserved until an unspecified date.
Four of the confirmed dead were in Gauteng, the national intelligence body NatJOINTS, said, and 26 in KwaZulu-Natal, the province’s premiere said.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Court Jails Former South Africa President Jacob Zuma
The unrest broke out as South Africa’s economy struggles to emerge from the damage wrought by Africa’s worst Covid-19 epidemic, forcing it to repeatedly impose restrictions on businesses that have hurt an already fragile recovery.
Meanwhile, the National Prosecuting Authority said on Monday that those found guilty of looting would be punished.
Advertise or Publish a Story on EkoHot Blog:
Kindly contact us at [email protected]. Breaking stories should be sent to the above email and substantiated with pictorial evidence.
Citizen journalists will receive a token as data incentive.
Call or Whatsapp: 0803 561 7233, 0703 414 5611
