More than 1,700 people have been arrested in South Africa, after six days of violence and looting that killed over 72 people. The violence broke out after former president Jacob Zuma turned himself to the authorities on July 7. Zuma has been indicted of contempt of court because he refused to return to the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, where he has been repeatedly accused of involvement in corruption by witnesses.
Violence, looting and arson, however, has slowly begun abating as streets saw an increasing number of troops that had been deployed to quell the violence. President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday said he plans to deploy up to 25,000 troops in the two provinces where security forces were struggling to mitigate instances of violence.
Zuma's arrest triggered protests, which spiraled into violence and looting. It widened into protesters expressing anger over inequality and poverty that exists 27 years after apartheid ended. The protests began in KwaZulu-Natal, in particular Durban, and the financial and economic centre of Johannesburg and the surrounding province of Gauteng.
Jaishankar, who is on a visit to Tajikistan to attend meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation tweeted, “Appreciate the conversation with South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor today. She assured that her government was doing its utmost to enforce law and order. Early restoration of normalcy and peace was the overriding priority.”
Businesses ransacked during the violence are likely to file for compensation that could be between seven billion rand and 10 billion rand ($481m to $683m).
The king of South Africa’s Zulu community, Misuzulu Zulu told Reuters, “This chaos is destroying the economy, and it is the poor who will suffer the most.”
Several deaths were the result of a stampede in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces as people stole food, electric appliances, liquor and clothing from stores. In some areas, people turned in suspected looters to the police. People also took up arms to protect themselves against looting and violence. Several citizens blocked off streets to prevent plundering.
