Residents count cost as South Africa looting starts to die down
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[July 15, 2021]
By Nqobile Dludla
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -A week of violence
that has engulfed South Africa slowly began to ebb on Thursday, and
people counted the cost of an orgy of arson and looting that has
destroyed hundreds of businesses and killed at least 70 people.
Looting continued in parts of the eastern port city of Durban, but in
much of the main commercial city Johannesburg, shopkeepers and other
residents sifted through the debris, cleared up trash and assessed what
remained of their ruined businesses.
At Diepkloof Mall in Soweto, South Africa's biggest township and one of
the worst affected areas, about 50 people swept up broken glass and
packed empty shoe boxes into plastic rubbish bags, a Reuters reporter
said.
Clothing stores like Mr Price, Rage and Ackermans were empty, with only
clothing racks and naked mannequins scattered across the floor.
"It's heartbreaking. Very, very heartbreaking. Everything is gone. It's
going to take months to be back up again," said Ricardo Desousa, manager
of a ransacked butcher shop in Soweto's Bara Mall.
His staff were helping clean up the damage. "They're not going to get
paid," he said. "There's no money."
The riots initially started in response to the jailing of ex-president
Jacob Zuma last week for his failure to appear at a corruption inquiry.
But they swiftly degenerated into looting and destruction, driven by
widespread anger over the hardship and inequality that nearly three
decades of democracy since the end of apartheid have failed to address.
Half the population lives below the poverty line, according to the
latest government figures from 2015, and growing joblessness since the
coronavirus pandemic began has left many desperate. Unemployment stood
at a record high of 32.6% in the first three months of 2021.
Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said on Wednesday she wanted to
deploy up to 25,000 soldiers in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces,
where security forces were struggling to quell the days of looting,
arson and violence.
Authorities say 5,000 troops were already on the streets since
Wednesday, double the number originally planned. It was unclear when the
rest would arrive.
Security forces have so far arrested at least 1,350 people.
The ransacking of stores has left food and other essentials in short
supply, which may become a serious problem in days to come. The closure
of many petrol stations has also hit transport supply lines.
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Members of a private security walk at a looted shopping mall as the
country deploys army to quell unrest linked to the jailing of former
South African President Jacob Zuma, in Vosloorus, South Africa, July
14, 2021. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
An unknown people have been forced out of work due to
the destruction of businesses.
Pillaging continued on Thursday in Durban, where a Reuters reporter
saw crowds in the Mobeni neighbourhood rolling away trolleys loaded
with maize meal and other looted staples.
Some loaded pick-up trucks - one such truck had to be abandoned as
it had run out of fuel. Taxi drivers blockaded some roads to try to
prevent further looting.
In Johannesburg's central business district and the township of
Alexandra, both also hit hard by violence, the streets were calm.
In Soweto, Councillor Mpho Moerane said about 300 volunteers were
cleaning all the damaged shopping centers across the township. Two
men were putting up steel doors on the entrance to a Shoprite liquor
store in Bara Mall that was completely cleaned out and littered with
broken glass.
The unrest has also disrupted hospitals struggling to cope with a
third wave of COVID-19. The National Hospital Network said on
Wednesday it was running out of oxygen and drugs, most of which are
imported through Durban. Some vaccination centres have been forced
to shut.
Zuma, 79, was sentenced last month for defying an order to give
evidence at a judicial inquiry probing high-level graft during his
time in office from 2009 to 2018.
He has pleaded not guilty in a separate case on charges including
corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering. He says he is
the victim of a witchunt by his political foes.
(Additional reporting by Siyabonga Sishi in Durban, and Shafiek
Tassiem, Alexander Winning, Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo, Siphiwe Sibeko
and Tim Cocks in Johannesburg; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by
Angus MacSwan)
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