Death toll rises to 72 in South Africa as rioting continues following jailing of Jacob Zuma

Juliette Bremner reports on the violence that has shaken South Africa

South Africa’s riots have continued, with the death toll rising to 72 as police and the military struggle to quell the looting and violence in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.

Many of the deaths occurred in chaotic stampedes as scores of people looted food, electric appliances, alcohol and clothing from retail centres, KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala said.

“Yesterday’s events brought a lot of sadness. Many [people] died from being trampled on during a stampede while people were looting items,” said Mr Zikalala.

The violence started in KwaZulu-Natal last week as protests against the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma, who began serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court.

In Gauteng, South Africa’s most populous province which includes the largest city, Johannesburg, 45 deaths are being investigated, officials said.

“The criminal element has hijacked this situation,” said Premier David Makhura of Gauteng province. More than 1,234 people were arrested in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, but authorities said the situation was far from under control, he said.

The deployment of 2,500 soldiers to support the South African police has not yet stopped the rampant looting, although arrests are being made at some areas in Johannesburg, including Vosloorus in eastern Johannesburg.

Looting continued on Tuesday in Johannesburg shopping malls in township areas including Jabulani Mall and Dobsonville Mall in Soweto. There were also reports of continued looting in centres in KwaZulu-Natal.

Zuma was convicted of defying a court order to testify before a state-backed inquiry probing allegations of corruption during his term as president from 2009 to 2018.

The sporadic pro-Zuma violence spiralled into a spree of criminal theft in poor township areas of the two provinces, according to witnesses. So far the lawlessness has not spread to South Africa’s other nine provinces.

The Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, heard Zuma’s application to have his sentence rescinded on Monday.

Zuma’s lawyer presented his arguments that the top court made errors when sentencing Zuma to prison.

After 10 hours of testimony on Monday, the court judges said they would study the arguments and announce their decision at a later date.