Wednesday, March 22, 2023
  • Login
Upgrade
The Southern African Times
  • Home
  • Southern Africa
  • Global
  • Business
    • African Start ups
    • African Continental Free Trade Area
  • Tech
    • Lifestyle
      • Health
      • Culture
      • Food and Drink
      • Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • SAT Jobs
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Southern Africa
  • Global
  • Business
    • African Start ups
    • African Continental Free Trade Area
  • Tech
    • Lifestyle
      • Health
      • Culture
      • Food and Drink
      • Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • SAT Jobs
No Result
View All Result
The Southern African Times
No Result
View All Result
Home in Southern Africa

South African crowds rampage, hospital operations disrupted

by SAT Reporter
July 14, 2021
in in Southern Africa, Just In, South Africa
0
South African crowds rampage, hospital operations disrupted
0
VIEWS

JOHANNESBURG, (The Southern African Times) – Crowds looted shops and offices in South Africa on Wednesday, defying government calls to end a week of violence that has killed more than 70 people and wrecked hundreds of businesses.

The unrest, the worst in South Africa for years, also disrupted hospitals struggling to cope with a third wave of COVID-19 and forced the closure of a refinery.

Protests triggered by the jailing of ex-president Jacob Zuma for failing to appear at a corruption inquiry last week have widened into looting and an outpouring of general anger over the hardship and inequality that persist 27 years after the end of apartheid.

Shopping malls and warehouses have been ransacked or set ablaze in several cities, mostly in Zuma’s home in KwaZulu-Natal province, and the financial and economic center Johannesburg and surrounding Gauteng province.

Overnight it spread to two other provinces – Mpumalanga, just east of Gauteng, and Northern Cape, police said.

A Reuters photographer saw several shops being looted in the town of Hammersdale, Kwazulu-Natal, on Wednesday. Local TV stations meanwhile showed more looting of shops in South Africa’s largest township Soweto, and in the Indian Ocean port city of Durban.

Soldiers have been sent onto the streets to help outnumbered police contain the unrest and order was being restored in some places on Wednesday, such as the northern Johannesburg township of Alexandra, local TV reported.

The National Hospital Network (NHN), representing 241 public hospitals already under strain from Africa’s worst COVID-19 epidemic, said it was running out of oxygen and drugs, most of which are imported through Durban, as well as food.

“The impact of the looting and destruction is having dire consequences on hospitals,” the NHN said. “And the epicentre of the pandemic is within the affected provinces currently under siege.” Staff in affected areas were unable to get to work, it said, worsening shortages caused by a third wave of infections.

As authorities in Durban seemed powerless to stop looting, vigilantes armed with guns, many of them from South Africa’s white minority, blocked off streets to prevent further looting, Reuters TV footage showed. One man shouted “go home and protect your homes”.

Other residents gathered outside supermarkets waiting for them to open so they could stock up on essentials.

The poverty and inequality fuelling the unrest has been compounded by severe social and economic restrictions aimed at curbing COVID-19. The United Nations in South Africa expressed concern that disruptions to transport for workers from the riots would exacerbate joblessness, poverty and inequality.

ECONOMIC DAMAGE

South Africa’s largest refinery SAPREF in Durban has been temporarily shut down, an industry official said on Wednesday. 

The rand hovered around three-month lows in early trade on Wednesday, a retreat for what had been one of the best performing emerging market currencies during the pandemic. Government bonds were slightly weaker. 

The mayor of Ethekwini, the municipality that includes Durban, estimated that 15 billion rand ($1.09 billion) had been lost in damage to property and another billion in loss of stock.

Some 40,000 businesses had been hit by the unrest, he said.

“A large portion of these may never recover,” he told reporters on Wednesday, which put almost 130,000 jobs at risk.

Zuma, 79, was sentenced last month for defying a court order to give evidence at an inquiry investigating high-level looting during his nine years in office until 2018.

He also faces trial in a separate case on charges including corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering. The former president pleaded not guilty in court in May. His foundation said on Tuesday that violence would continue until his release.

The national prosecuting authority has said it will punish those caught looting or destroying property, a threat that so far has done little to deter them. Security forces say they have arrested more than 1,200 people.

Though triggered by Zuma’s jailing, the unrest reflects growing frustration at failures by the ruling African National Congress to address inequality decades after the end of white minority rule in 1994 ushered in democracy.

Roughly half the population lives below the poverty line, according to the latest government figures from 2015, and growing joblessness since the pandemic has left many desperate. Unemployment stood at a new record high of 32.6% in the first three months of 2021.

Previous Post

Marcus Rashford responds to racists: “I will never apologise for who I am and where I come from”

Next Post

France fines Google 500 million euros over copyright row

SAT Reporter

Related Posts

South African authorities arrest 87 ahead of anti-government protest
South Africa

South African authorities arrest 87 ahead of anti-government protest

by SAT Reporter
March 20, 2023
All set for commissioning of new generator to boost Zimbabwe’s power supplies
Business

All set for commissioning of new generator to boost Zimbabwe’s power supplies

by SAT Reporter
March 20, 2023
Uhuru Kenyatta visits DR Congo to facilitate peace process
Democratic Republic of Congo

Uhuru Kenyatta visits DR Congo to facilitate peace process

by SAT Reporter
March 11, 2023
Tanzania, World Bank pledge to support women in accessing digital technologies
Tanzania

Tanzania, World Bank pledge to support women in accessing digital technologies

by SAT Reporter
March 8, 2023
South Africa gets new minister to tackle power crisis
South Africa

South Africa gets new minister to tackle power crisis

by SAT Reporter
March 7, 2023
Next Post
France fines Google 500 million euros over copyright row

France fines Google 500 million euros over copyright row

Browse by Category

  • African Continental Free Trade Area
  • African Debt
  • African Start ups
  • Algeria
  • Analysis
  • Angola
  • Asia
  • Botswana
  • BOTSWANA
  • Burkina Faso
  • Burundi
  • Business
  • Business
  • Cameroon
  • Central Africa
  • China
  • Climate Change
  • Climate Changev
  • Congo Republic
  • COVID 19
  • Culture
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Eastern Africa
  • Education
  • Egypt
  • Entertainment
  • Environment
  • Ethiopia
  • Europe
  • Fashion
  • Feature
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Food and Drink
  • Foods
  • Ghana
  • Global
  • Guinea
  • Health
  • Immigration
  • in Southern Africa
  • International news
  • Just In
  • Kenya
  • Lesotho
  • Libya
  • Life Style
  • Lifestyle
  • Malawi
  • Malawi
  • Mali
  • Markets
  • Middle East
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Nigeria
  • North Africa
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Rwanda
  • SAT Jobs
  • Senegal
  • Seychelles
  • South Africa
  • South Sudan
  • Sports
  • Startup Africa
  • STOCK EXCHANGE
  • Tanzania
  • Tech
  • Togo
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Tunisia
  • Uganda
  • Uncategorized
  • West Africa
  • World
  • World
  • ZAMBIA
  • Zambia
  • ZIMBABWE
  • Zimbabwe

Browse by Tags

africa African business news Africa News african footballer African investments African news African start-up Agriculture banking Business China Classic Climate change Content currency economy Explore Bali Finance football Health Investment Kenya Life Style Markets Market Stories Nigeria oil and gas Opinion Pandemic Politics Premium Russia South Africa Southern African News sports Stay Home technology Travel United Kingdom United Stated Vaccine Work From Home Wuhan Zambia Zimbabwe

Categories

  • African Continental Free Trade Area
  • African Debt
  • African Start ups
  • Algeria
  • Analysis
  • Angola
  • Asia
  • Botswana
  • BOTSWANA
  • Burkina Faso
  • Burundi
  • Business
  • Business
  • Cameroon
  • Central Africa
  • China
  • Climate Change
  • Climate Changev
  • Congo Republic
  • COVID 19
  • Culture
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Eastern Africa
  • Education
  • Egypt
  • Entertainment
  • Environment
  • Ethiopia
  • Europe
  • Fashion
  • Feature
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Food and Drink
  • Foods
  • Ghana
  • Global
  • Guinea
  • Health
  • Immigration
  • in Southern Africa
  • International news
  • Just In
  • Kenya
  • Lesotho
  • Libya
  • Life Style
  • Lifestyle
  • Malawi
  • Malawi
  • Mali
  • Markets
  • Middle East
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Nigeria
  • North Africa
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Rwanda
  • SAT Jobs
  • Senegal
  • Seychelles
  • South Africa
  • South Sudan
  • Sports
  • Startup Africa
  • STOCK EXCHANGE
  • Tanzania
  • Tech
  • Togo
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Tunisia
  • Uganda
  • Uncategorized
  • West Africa
  • World
  • World
  • ZAMBIA
  • Zambia
  • ZIMBABWE
  • Zimbabwe

Browse by Tag

africa African business news Africa News african footballer African investments African news African start-up Agriculture banking Business China Classic Climate change Content currency economy Explore Bali Finance football Health Investment Kenya Life Style Markets Market Stories Nigeria oil and gas Opinion Pandemic Politics Premium Russia South Africa Southern African News sports Stay Home technology Travel United Kingdom United Stated Vaccine Work From Home Wuhan Zambia Zimbabwe
  • Home
  • Southern Africa
  • Global
  • Business
    • African Start ups
    • African Continental Free Trade Area
  • Tech
    • Lifestyle
      • Health
      • Culture
      • Food and Drink
      • Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • SAT Jobs

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?