The people who looted shops are not all poor and hungry; some “elements” deliberately hijacked the protests for their own ends, police minister Bheki Cele said on Thursday.
The minister acknowledged racial tensions in Phoenix, a township about 25km north of Durban, saying locals had reported incidents of racial profiling of the occupants of cars that were stopped. But, said Cele, criminality was the main problem — with members of different demographic groups in Phoenix uniting to loot.
He said 20 bodies were discovered in the township after the recent unrest, adding that the death toll there could rise because some people were still missing.
“I refuse to completely take this situation here as racial [...] if it was [a] racial situation [...] they have been very much comrades in stealing. There are people that have raided these shops from Phoenix [...] they have been comrades there in stealing,” he said.
eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said on Wednesday the civil unrest and violence had put 45,000 Durban businesses out of action, and resulted in losses of R16bn. Kaunda said R1bn of that was stock lost and R15bn was damage to property and equipment
Cele admitted the SA Police Service (SAPS) was stretched, adding that personnel were not trained for “war” or widespread unrest. For this reason, he said, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the deployment of an additional 25,000 soldiers to support the SAPS.
While the riots may have been “genuine” at the outset, more sinister actors were now involved, Cele said. “Some elements have really taken over on the matter.”
Cele said police in parts of Gauteng were checking people with goods suspected to have been looted and were demanding receipts. Where they could not be produced, the equipment would be confiscated.
“It’s important to understand that, indeed, the situation [has] been hijacked even if it was or it were a genuine situation,” said Cele.
The minister questioned the depiction of looters as down and out after seeing expensive vehicles at some scenes of looting on the South Coast. He also expressed “concern” about media coverage of violence in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, when some regions were calm, community members had protected businesses, and clean-ups were under way.
“There is an excuse that has been given, which I don’t say is genuine, that people are poor and hungry,” Cele said. He recalled visiting Mobeni, south of Durban, on Wednesday, where looters had raided a gun shop. “They stole the whole container of bullets. Are they going to eat bullets? Because they are hungry? No, you don’t eat bullets.”
Cele said he had also travelled on the N2 highway during an inspection of damaged and destroyed shops and warehouses KwaZulu-Natal. “Along the fence there, there were beautiful cars, top cars, there [...] you could see that they were on the beach having [a] party. Is that hunger? No.”
Cele’s spokesperson Lirandzu Themba said the minister would visit Phoenix again on Friday.
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