Issued on: 12/07/2021 -
Text by: NEWS WIRES
South Africa will deploy soldiers to quell violence that erupted in the wake of former president Jacob Zuma’s jailing, the military said on Monday, after days of riots and looting left at least six people dead.
Disturbances worsened as Zuma challenged his 15-month prison term in the country’s top court after weekend unrest by pro-Zuma protesters in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Gauteng, where the country’s largest city Johannesburg is located.
Police said 219 arrests had been made, as opportunistic criminals appeared to take advantage of the anger some feel over Zuma’s incarceration to steal and cause destruction.
Any confrontation with soldiers risks fuelling claims by Zuma and his supporters that they are victims of a politically-motivated crackdown by his successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The rand fell sharply after the military announced its deployment, extending losses to trade down 2% against the U.S. dollar by 12.30 p.m. local time (1030 GMT). Analysts said, however, that the slump was also partly driven by fears over the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zuma, 79, was sentenced late last month for defying a constitutional court order to give evidence at an inquiry investigating high-level corruption during his nine years in office until 2018.
The decision to jail him resulted from legal proceedings seen as a test of post-apartheid South Africa’s ability to enforce the rule of law, including against powerful politicians.
Six killed, scores arrested in South Africa protests after Zuma jailing, govt says
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“The South African National Defence Force has commenced with pre-deployment processes...to assist law enforcement agencies deployed in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces...to quell the unrest that has gripped both in the last few days,” the military said in a statement.
“The duration (of the deployment) and number of deploying soldiers will be determined based on the assessment of the situation on the ground,” it added.
In a virtual hearing, Zuma’s counsel asked the constitutional court on Monday to rescind his jail term, citing a rule that judgments can be reconsidered if made in the absence of the affected person or containing a patent error.
Legal experts say Zuma’s chances of success are slim.
Fires
Footage shot by local TV channels on Monday showed a mall in Pietermaritzburg in KZN on fire, with a nearby highway closed to prevent further violence. Another mall in Vosloorus, Gauteng, was set alight amid vandalism and rioting, according to the TimesLIVE website.
Government intelligence agency NatJOINTS said the bodies of four people had been found - at least two of them with gunshot wounds - in Gauteng. Two deaths had occurred in KZN, and all six were being investigated.
Zuma’s imprisonment marks a significant fall from stature for a leading figure in the liberation-movement-turned-ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC). He was once jailed by South Africa’s pre-1994 white-minority rulers for his efforts to make all citizens equal before the law.
Ramaphosa said on Sunday the violence was damaging efforts to rebuild the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The corruption inquiry that Zuma has refused to cooperate with is examining allegations that he allowed three Indian-born businessmen, Atul, Ajay and Rajesh Gupta, to plunder state resources and peddle influence over government policy. He and the Gupta brothers, who fled the country after his ouster and are believed to be living in Dubai, deny wrongdoing.
Zuma also faces a corruption case relating to a $2 billion arms deal in 1999 when he was deputy president. He denies the charges in that case.
(REUTERS)
South Africa: Violent rioting grips cities in wake of Zuma jailing
Johannesburg has been rocked by protests against the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma, who was jailed for snubbing anti-corruption investigators. Zuma will seek to annul his prison sentence on Monday.
South African police have arrested dozens of people for looting and rioting in Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal province, where Zuma is being held
Violent rioting erupted across several South African cities on Sunday following the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma.
The violence was concentrated mainly in Zuma's home province of KwaZulu-Natal, where he began serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court on Wednesday. But violence also spread to Gauteng province on Sunday, which includes Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city.
Shops were looted, and protesters blocked roads as they marched through the city.
The body of a 40-year-old man was recovered from a shop in Johannesburg that had been burned and police are investigating the circumstances, according to a statement by police Major General Mathapelo Peters.
At least three police officers were injured when trying to arrest looters and one was hospitalized, the statement added.
Police on Sunday said they had arrested 37 people in KwaZulu-Natal and 25 in Johannesburg over the previous two days.
Top court to review Zuma's jail term
Zuma has been jailed for defying a court order to testify before a state-backed inquiry probing allegations of high-level graft during his term as president from 2009 to 2018. The inquiry was set up in his final weeks in office.
Zuma's appeal to be released from the Estcourt Correctional Center was rejected by a regional court on Friday.
The former president, who denies there was widespread corruption under his leadership, will seek to have the ruling set aside on Monday with the Constitutional Court — South Africa's highest court — on the grounds that it was made in his absence.
Parliament's presiding officers on Sunday said that they were "sympathetic to the personal difficulties confronting former President Jacob Zuma. However, the rule of law andsupremacy of the constitution must prevail."
President Cyril Ramaphosa, meanwhile, said there was no justification for violence and that it was hampering South Africa's efforts to rebuild the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
By ANDREW MELDRUM and MOGOMOTSI MAGOME
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A couple walks past a body covered with a blanket after protests in the area, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sunday, July 11, 2021. Protests have spread from the KwaZulu Natal province to Johannesburg against the imprisonment of former South African President Jacob Zuma who was imprisoned last week for contempt of court. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Rioting triggered by the imprisonment of former South African President Jacob Zuma escalated Monday as shopping malls in Johannesburg were looted, major roads were blocked by burning tires and the police and military struggled to contain the violence.
The unrest started last week in KwaZulu-Natal province after Zuma was imprisoned for contempt of court. What began as fairly small-scale blocking of roads in Zuma’s home area intensified and spread to Gauteng, South Africa’s most populous province, including Johannesburg, the country’s largest city.
At least six people have been killed and more than 200 arrested, according to a police statement issued Monday.
Soldiers have been deployed to help the police. President Cyril Ramaphosa was to address the nation later Monday. He appealed for calm Sunday night and vowed that police would crack down on those breaking the law, but the riots worsened Monday.
Looting of retail centers broke out in several areas of Johannesburg, including Benmore, Jeppestown, Vosloorus, and Soweto, where the Jabulani and Dobsonville malls were hit.
Retail stores in Alexandra, east of Johannesburg, were also affected, and journalists covering the riots for the public South African Broadcasting Corporation and news channel Newzroom Afrika were robbed of their equipment.
A major mall and car dealerships around the affluent Rosebank area closed as protesters were reported in the area. Other retail centers in the east of Johannesburg, including Kempton Park, also closed Monday.
In KwaZulu-Natal, people took appliances, including microwave ovens, television sets and clothing from stores in the Mariannhill and Umlazi areas.
The violence began last week when Zuma began serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court. He defied a court order to testify before a state-backed inquiry probing allegations of corruption during his term as president from 2009 to 2018.
The Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, was to begin hearing Zuma’s appeal on Monday.
Police were investigating the deaths — four in Gauteng and two in KwaZulu-Natal, said police Col. Brenda Muridili. The police and national security forces expanded their presence in both provinces to help quell the violence, authorities said.
Police have warned that anyone using social media to encourage rioting may be arrested and prosecuted.
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