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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has blamed the “instigators” for planning the country’s worst unrest since the end of apartheid, as the army set out to restore order after days of looting that has destabilized two large provinces.
This week, Africa’s most industrialized economy emerges from scenes of anarchy in Gauteng, the economic center and in KwaZulu-Natal, which left more than a hundred people dead, destroyed businesses and endangered the deployment of Covid-19 vaccines in the country. Riots have abated in recent days as security forces have deployed in greater numbers.
The unrest was initially sparked by the imprisonment of Jacob Zuma, the former president, out of contempt of court after he failed to attend an investigation into corruption during his nine-year term. Zuma still has strong support in his home province, KwaZulu-Natal, which has a history of political violence, and in some parts of the African National Congress party, which is ruling deeply divided.
Although their imprisonment sparked, the protests quickly turned into massive riots of frustrated people with high levels of unemployment in one of the most unequal societies in the world and months of hardship under closure.
“These incidents of riots and looting were provoked,” Ramaphosa said on Friday as he arrived in Durban, the port city of KwaZulu-Natal, the hardest hit region.
“It simply came to our notice then. They coordinated it. Our intelligence services and our police now have a vision of what was really going on here with instigation and coordination, “said Ramaphosa, who took over from Zuma in 2018.” We have identified a good number of them and we will not allow anarchy and chaos to develop only in our country. “
Government ministers have previously pointed to signs of what they have called “economic sabotage” by “sinister elements”.
On Wednesday, the presidency said one of the 12 alleged key instigators had been arrested. The country’s national spy agency is investigating whether its own former agents had orchestrated violence in KwaZulu-Natal out of loyalty to Zuma. A leading Zuma-related business family denied this week that it was behind the unrest.
However, the Ramaphosa government is under heavy fire so analysts said they did not act on the warnings of unrest after Zuma’s jail last week. Police often stayed there while looters attacked supermarkets and other businesses this week.
Local media have reported that ANC members tried to make the country governable in revenge for Zuma prison, even by coordinating attacks through social media and taking advantage of their ties with former agents. security loyal to the former president.
“I will not be surprised if there are also elements of people in the ANC [seeking] to undermine and weaken President Ramaphosa’s position, ”said Jasmine Opperman, a security analyst.
According to the city’s chamber of commerce, the economic damage to Durban, Africa’s largest seaport, is estimated at more than $ 20 billion ($ 1.4 million), with tens of thousands of jobs. In danger. Arson has destroyed major infrastructure in the city, including distribution warehouses, chemical factories and a drug manufacturer.
This week, the government increased the initial military deployment to 25,000 soldiers and reserves, ten times the original number, as the lack of food and fuel ended.
On Friday, armored cars patrolled the suburbs and municipalities of Durban, while reopening Johannesburg’s main N3 motorway in the city.
Ramaphosa admitted that police force and intelligence services “could have gone better,” but said they had been overwhelmed. He also said South Africa’s reputation as an investment destination had been “severely affected” by the riots.
South Africa’s economy was already stagnant before the pandemic. “We have really been backtracking on our path to economic recovery,” Ramaphosa said.
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