KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala on Tuesday confirmed that 26 people were killed in a stampede in the province as protesters ran riot and police arrested more than 150 people.
Zikalala said the province’s “all important” rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine had ground to a halt because of the unrest. Damage to public and private infrastructure to date was in the region of R1bn, he said.
“These episodes of violence are inflicting many lasting scars. The latest fatalities confirmed by [the] security cluster in KwaZulu-Natal stand at 26. These were people that were killed during stampede as protesters ran riot.”
Police had arrested 187 suspects by Monday night, he said.
“The social cost might come in the form of increased poverty and unemployment in the years to come,” said Zikalala. Healthcare workers were prevented from reporting to work, service delivery was impaired and various business sectors were hit.
“Hawkers cannot sell because cities are shut down. Our fellow sisters and brothers in the taxi industry stand to lose their vehicles ... workers stand to lose their work,” he said.
Zikalala reported an ambulance in Howick was burnt and another in Mariann Hill was pelted with rocks and stones. “Some clinics have had to be closed as a result of the unrest,” he said. “It is extremely concerning that in some cases protesters stopped the delivery of much-needed oxygen to patients.”
Sporadic protests continued overnight into Tuesday morning, with civil unrest persisting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. By 8pm on Monday night police confirmed more fatalities: three in KwaZulu-Natal and six in Gauteng. Four officers were injured responding to protests, said police.
By Monday night police had arrested 489 people across the two provinces — 166 people in KwaZulu-Natal and 323 people in Gauteng, according to police. Uprisings continued overnight, however, with the thousands of looters targeting businesses vastly outnumbering law enforcement agents.
Unrest flared up in Alexandra, Mamelodi and Vosloorus, among other areas in Gauteng. Looters targeted shopping centres in Soweto, including Maponya Mall and Jabulani Mall, where theft continued well into the night.
Groups ransacked various shops, including supermarkets, clothing stores and pharmacies, leaving parts of the Soweto properties charred with broken shop windows and bare shelves. Looting continued on Tuesday morning with Alexandra radio station Alex FM’s studios among the sites targeted in that region. Thieves stole items in the studio and the office, forcing the station off air.
National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJOINTS) has “intensified deployments” in both provinces, which will be strengthened by police measures to call staff on leave and off duty.
The structure welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s deployment of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) announced in his Monday night speech. Ramaphosa’s address followed days of rising civil demonstrations, since Wednesday last week.
Protests have led to hundreds of millions or rand in damage, with businesses targeted and workers under risk forced to flee sites and stay home. The attacks have led to increased security at the Constitutional Court and KwaZulu-Natal court in Pietermaritzburg. The high court in Durban was also closed on Monday.
Social grant dispersion has also been adversely affected, which affects beneficiaries dependent on the state for welfare. Due to the cash in transit halting services, the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) announced cash payments from SASSA pay points were on hold. Recipients can use their cards to purchase goods, retrieve grants from merchants and draw cash from ATMs, but demonstrations are likely to affect access to these places.
Medical aid service Discovery temporarily closed its offices as a precautionary measure and told clients it remained “fully available during this time” before calling for understanding should there be “any delays” and referring clients to its digital channels.
Former president Jacob Zuma began his 15-month jail service in the early hours of Thursday morning for contempt of court of a Constitutional Court order that he comply with summonses to testify at the state capture inquiry. His case seeking to persuade the apex to rescind its order against him was heard on Monday. Zuma’s lawyer motivated for Zuma’s immediate release from prison pending the court’s ruling.
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