Looting broke out in several cities in South Africa this weekend after the country’s former president, Jacob Zuma, began serving a 15-month sentence last Thursday for contempt in relation to an investigation of corruption during his tenure.
The metropolitan areas of Johannesburg, in Gauteng Province, and Durban and Pietermaritzburg, in KwaZulu-Natal province, saw looting and violence as police struggled to maintain order, and the army was called out in an attempt to control the ongoing chaos.
Videos of the violence and unrest circulated on social media.
Saw crazy scenes at Wembley. Today we see people in South Africa walk into a Mall and shops and go on a looting spree. #ShutdownSA pic.twitter.com/PjxRkzcODe
— Comeback Kings 🇹 (@ElijahKyama) July 12, 2021
The shop was completely destroyed last night by the same community members we’ve helped over the years and have created ubdlelwane nabo. They destroyed it all. Our property. Our income. My legacy. #looting #ShutdownSA #community #ShutdownKZN #SouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/mvvNwxD4C0
— uThandolwethu (@Tee_Madela) July 12, 2021
The shop was completely destroyed last night by the same community members we’ve helped over the years and have created ubdlelwane nabo. They destroyed it all. Our property. Our income. My legacy. #looting #ShutdownSA #community #ShutdownKZN #SouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/mvvNwxD4C0
— uThandolwethu (@Tee_Madela) July 12, 2021
#breakingnews #Intelligence Riots and looting continue throughout #SouthAfrica. The President of the Republic #Ramaphosa will speak to the nation tonight with the hope of mitigating the protests. pic.twitter.com/VlTIEIU6Ll
— Donato Yaakov Secchi (@doyaksec) July 12, 2021
Protests and looting have spread across South Africa after former president, Jacob Zuma, began serving his jail sentence.
The South African army has deployed troops to help control the violence.
@McKenzieCNN spoke to @LyndaKinkade live from scenes of chaos. pic.twitter.com/m30zXczoGF— CNN Africa (@CNNAfrica) July 12, 2021
The country is also suffering from the effects of repeated coronavirus lockdowns, as the government has struggled to provide vaccines. President Cyril Ramaphosa was due to address the nation on Monday evening to deal with the chaos.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book is How Not to Be a Sh!thole Country: Lessons from South Africa. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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