South Africa is deploying its armed forces to support beleaguered police who have failed to quell an escalating surge of destruction and looting ignited by the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma.
The destruction is being described as the worst in South Africa in many years. Thousands of rioters in huge mobs have triggered chaos in much of the country, shutting down national highways and train routes, torching entire shopping malls, laying siege to business districts, looting shops and sparking violence that led to the deaths of at least six people and the arrest of more than 200 so far.
The chaos was linked partly to factional fighting in the ruling African National Congress, but it has also been fuelled by mounting unemployment, a deteriorating economy and sharp inequality in the country.
Videos on social media showed some of the looters shouting Mr. Zuma’s name as they walked away from shops with carts heaped with stolen goods.
One of the former president’s daughters, Dudu Zuma-Sambudla, has appeared to endorse the rioting, tweeting a series of videos of arson attacks with the hashtag #FreeJacobZuma. On social media, some South Africans have called for her arrest for inciting violence.
Police have clashed with the rioters, firing rubber bullets and tear gas, but were often overwhelmed by the mobs and sometimes merely watched the attacks.
Many pharmacies, clinics and vaccination centres were shut down by the attacks, damaging the country’s efforts to accelerate its COVID-19 vaccination program. Ambulances and oxygen supplies have been blocked in some regions, and many hospital workers were unable to reach their workplaces on Monday. Health experts warned that the rioting was a super-spreader event, likely to heighten the surge of cases and deaths.
On Monday, armed soldiers appeared on the streets of Pietermaritzburg, capital of KwaZulu-Natal province, epicentre of the protests and looting. The unrest has also escalated in South Africa’s most populous province and economic heartland, Gauteng province.
Army officials, in a statement on Monday, said the military deployment would “assist law enforcement agencies deployed in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal … to quell the unrest that has gripped both provinces in the last few days.”
They said the number of deploying soldiers and the duration of the mission “will be determined based on the assessment of the situation on the ground by the relevant law enforcement agencies.”
While the rioting was first incited by Mr. Zuma’s supporters after he was imprisoned on a 15-month sentence for contempt of court for refusing to testify to a state corruption inquiry, it has quickly spread to familiar targets, including foreign-owned shops, that have often suffered the brunt of looting attacks and arson in earlier protests against the government.
Analysts said the attacks are, to some extent, a response to the country’s deteriorating economic situation, especially since the pandemic began. South Africa has seen rising unemployment and deepening inequality for years, but the economic problems have grown worse as a result of pandemic lockdowns, including the latest lockdown announced as a result of a third wave of COVID-19 cases that began last month.
The rioting began last week in KwaZulu-Natal, the stronghold of Mr. Zuma, a Zulu traditionalist. By Monday, some parts of the province were described as a war zone, with police and armed security guards confronting mobs of looters.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, in a televised speech to the nation on Sunday night, warned of the dangers of “ethnic mobilization” – a reference to the former president’s Zulu supporters, who were angered at his imprisonment.
He acknowledged that some South Africans “may be hurt and angry” after the Zuma jailing. But there cannot be any justification for “violent, destructive and disruptive actions,” he told the country in his speech.
“It is a matter of concern to all South Africans that some of these acts of violence are based on ethnic mobilization. This must be condemned by all South Africans at all costs as we are a nation committed to non-racialism and non-tribalism.”
Mr. Ramaphosa was scheduled to give another televised speech to the country later on Monday to address the escalation of violence.
The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the violence and looting is “pure criminality by marauding gangs who are masquerading as protesters.”
It called for decisive action against the rioters. “The image of South Africa as an investment destination is being damaged by the minute. Business has been the main target of this violent criminality, and this has to stop as our economy is struggling,” the chamber said.
One of Mr. Zuma’s most vocal supporters, veteran ANC activist Carl Niehaus, said the rioting is a “vindication” of the Zuma faction’s earlier warnings about the consequences of his imprisonment. “We know there is a huge support base for Zuma which was going to be very angry because of this and that is exactly what is happening,” Mr. Niehaus told a South African newspaper, the Sunday Times.
He said the “instability” is a result of the ANC’s refusal to find a political resolution to the Zuma case. If there is political intervention, the former president “can sleep at home tonight,” he said.
But another commentator, former opposition politician Lindiwe Mazibuko, said the looting is “much bigger than Jacob Zuma” despite his faction’s claims. “Our country is stalked by poverty, hunger, unemployment and desperation in this pandemic,” she tweeted on Monday. “People believe they have nothing to lose by joining the madness.”
