South Africa: eyewitnesses describe terrifying riots that killed 72

Initial reports suggest supporters of former President Jacob Zuma were incited to riot on social media

As a South African court began hearing a challenge by former president Jacob Zuma against his 15-month prison sentence, protests broke out in the streets. Here, a South Africa Police Service (Saps) officer looks on as a group of armed private security officers aims rifles at demonstrators in Jeppestown, Johannesburg..

A van is brought to a stop by officers in Jeppestown..Mr Zuma, 79, was sentenced for defying a Constitutional Court order to give evidence at an inquiry investigating alleged high-level corruption during his nine years in office up to 2018.

Undercover and uniformed Saps members and security officers brace themselves, as violence and looting continued after a weekend of disorder involving pro-Zuma protesters.

Police stand over suspected looters in a shopping centre in Alexandra township, Johannesburg. Those backing Mr Zuma's claim he is the victim of a political witch-hunt orchestrated by allies of his successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa.

A crowd watches smoke billowing into the sky alongside a burning barricade in Durban. Mr Ramaphosa says there is no justification for violence and that it is damaging efforts to rebuild the economy.

A looted shop on fire in Alexandra township, Johannesburg. At least six people have been killed and more than 200 arrested in the ensuing violence.

Glass is broken at a KFC restaurant at Naledi shopping complex in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.

Police officers arrest people suspected of looting in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg.

People throw stones at police in Katlehong.

Saps members watch rioters looting the Jabulani Mall in Soweto.

Some suspected of rioting and looting in Vosloorus did not get far before being caught by police.

Government intelligence agency NatJoints said additional forces were sent to all the areas in Gauteng (the province including Johannesburg) and KwaZulu-Natal affected by the violent protests.

A business is set on fire in Durban.

More fires in Durban. Mr Zuma's imprisonment marks a significant fall for an important figure in the African National Congress, the liberation movement that became South Africa's ruling party.

Smoke dominates the Johannesburg skyline. Mr Zuma was also jailed by South Africa's pre-1994 white minority rulers for his efforts to bring about legal equality for all citizens.

Another man is arrested as officers attempt to purge the violence on the streets..

A Saps officer fires rubber bullets as he tries to disperse protesters in Jeppestown.

Protesters burn tires in Jeppestown. The corruption inquiry is examining allegations that Mr Zuma allowed three Indian-born businessmen, Atul, Ajay and Rajesh Gupta, to plunder state resources and peddle influence over government policy.

A burnt car at a road block in downtown Johannesburg. Mr Zuma and the Gupta brothers, who fled the country after his departure from office, deny wrongdoing.

Supporters of Mr Zuma march through downtown Johannesburg. Mr Zuma also faces a corruption case relating to a $2 billion arms deal in 1999 when he was deputy president. He denies all charges levelled against him.

At least 72 people have been killed in South Africa during riots in major cities across the country on Tuesday, after the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma in connection to corruption charges.

The 79-year-old former president was given a prison sentence last month after he failed to attend a hearing regarding allegations of abuse of office during his nine years in power.

Let me be clear: we will take action to protect every person in this country against the threat of violence

Cyril Ramaphosa,
President of South Africa

One of the most serious allegations relates to a $5 billion arms contract in the 1990s. Last week Zuma eventually turned himself in to authorities.

Protests by supporters and those opposed to the former leader soon turned into an eruption of anger at growing inequality in the country of almost 60 million.

Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) was the site of the first outbreaks of violence, which quickly spread to South Africa's biggest city, Johannesburg in Gauteng province, and Durban, KZN's biggest city.

'Like a horror movie'

Tshidi Lethwane on Monday went to the Maponya Mall, just minutes from her home in Soweto. But a simple visit to the shopping centre to pick up her medication quickly turned into a harrowing experience.

“The looting started after I parked my car and entered the mall. I had to turn back; it was traumatic. I live 200 metres from the mall. There are gunshots even now, I can hear it from the house,” she told The National by telephone.

Ms Lethwane had not been in the building for five minutes when she noticed a disturbance in a homeware shop.

“People were running towards the shop to take whatever they could. It was a stampede, goods and people everywhere. It was a traumatic experience, like a scene from a horror movie.”

She feared for her safety and as Ms Lethwane quickly drove away, she saw that the shopping centre opposite the mall was also being looted.

“The Liquor City and butchery. People were running across the streets with alcohol and meat,” she said.

Hundreds of shops and businesses were ransacked in Gauteng and KZN, where Zuma’s most vocal supporters are based.

Among the scores killed in the unrest was a 15-year-old boy who was shot outside a supermarket in Pietermaritzburg in KZN, police said on Tuesday. More than 1,200 people have been arrested, while shops, petrol stations and government buildings were forced to close.

Last week, Zuma became the first former president of South Africa to be sent to prison, after months of trying to evade arrest.

The African National Congress veteran is a polarising figure, whose reign was littered with corruption charges, including some because of his links to the infamous Gupta family, who fled South Africa in 2016 after being accused of embezzling government funds.

Zuma resigned in February 2018 after a no-confidence motion in parliament.

Sharply growing inequality

Rioting erupted in KZN at the end of last week just after Zuma handed himself in to custody and then spread to Gauteng.

The former president’s family members have been encouraging the unrest on social media and the turmoil underscores divisions within the ruling ANC and the narrow political majority President Cyril Ramaphosa has over the party.

Zuma has consistently denied the corruption charges and said he is a victim of a political crackdown, while Mr Ramaphosa has said his predecessor cost the state more than R500 billion ($35 billion).

Police said the violence had intensified as Zuma challenged his prison term in South Africa’s top court, but much of the rioting is being fuelled by frustration over growing economic inequality and strict Covid-19 restrictions.

For the first three months of this year, national unemployment was at a record high of 32.6 per cent.

On Monday, the South African military issued a statement announcing that forces would be deployed in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. The deployment of up to 2,500 troops is intended to quell the unrest and assist police and other law enforcement agencies to stop the violence spreading to other provinces.

Mr Ramaphosa gave a televised address to the nation on Monday night, where he denounced “opportunistic acts of criminality”.

“Let me be clear: we will take action to protect every person in this country against the threat of violence, intimidation, theft and looting,” he said.

“We will not hesitate to arrest and prosecute those who perpetrate these actions and will ensure that they face the full might of our law.” Mr Ramaphosa said if the violence was not contained, regional food and medicinal shortages could ensue.

Parts of Pietermaritzburg, in KZN, have become lawless, with a shopping centre going up in flames causing a huge plume of acrid smoke over the city.

Matthew Marwick, who lives close to the China Mall in the north-east of the city, was startled early on Tuesday by the unrest.

“I'd been awake since about 3am and I was lying down trying to rest my eyelids a bit at 7 o’clock when I heard what sounded like hundreds of rounds of gunfire going off. I went outside and that's when I saw black smoke billowing up from the China Mall,” Mr Marwick told The National by phone.

The smoke blanketed much of the city, with nearby shops being looted throughout the night, Mr Marwick said. He later drove through the city’s central business district.

“The entire CBD of Pietermaritzburg has been gutted. The length and the breadth of the CBD is in turmoil and it's been ransacked,” he said.

“There're parts of fridges and cupboards in the road, there are still hundreds of people milling around with their newly acquired possessions. It's quite heart-breaking to see.” He said he had not yet seen any army personnel in the vicinity.

Many businesses are affected and some have been destroyed. The Shoprite Group supermarket chain said it had been hit hard by the violence, having to suspend operations at dozens of its stores.

South Africa’s sluggish Covid-19 vaccine programme has also been affected by the violence, with hundreds of pharmacies, such as Clicks, which distribute inoculations, having to close until the violence subsides.

Clicks Group said in an email it has had to close 106 vaccination sites and 279 pharmacies, Bloomberg reported.

“Our vaccination programme has been severely disrupted just as it is gaining momentum,” President Ramaphosa said in his Monday address. “This will have lasting effects on our ability to consolidate some of the progress we were already witnessing in our economic recovery.”

State-administered inoculations have been suspended in KZN and parts of Gauteng, said Nicholas Crisp, a consultant to the National Health Department who is helping to oversee the programme.

Mr Marwick has lived primarily Pietermaritzburg since he was a child, including during the years of unrest in the early nineties before the end of apartheid.

“I was 22 at the time, which were very anxious times, but this is different. I have an even greater sense of anxiety right now.”

But, he said, he hopes the rioting will die down in a few days, because “there’s little left to loot”.