Violence has engulfed South Africa following the news of jail sentence handed on former president, Jacob Zuma, as his supporters have taken to the streets to express their displeasure over the court ruling.
The violence which was triggered off by the jailing of former president Zuma, has evolved into an outpouring of anger over persistent poverty and inequality in South Africa 27 years after the end of apartheid.
Protesters clashed with police in several areas of South Africa and looters ransacked shopping malls on Tuesday as frustrations over poverty and inequality boiled over into the country’s worst unrest in years.
Security officials said the government was working to ensure the violence and looting did not spread further, but they stopped short of declaring a state of emergency.
“No amount of unhappiness or personal circumstances from our people gives the right to anyone to loot, vandalise and do as they please and break the law,” Police Minister Bheki Cele told a news conference.
Troops were Tuesday moving in to flashpoints as outnumbered police seemed helpless to prevent attacks and looting on businesses in Zuma’s home province KwaZulu-Natal and in Gauteng province, where the country’s biggest city, Johannesburg, is located. Columns of armoured personnel carriers rolled down highways.
Shops, petrol stations and government buildings have been forced to close. Looters carried off items ranging from beer and foodstuffs to household appliances, footage showed, and at least one shopping mall was completely trashed.
