Series of incidents that led to July looting

ONE year after what South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa called a ‘violent insurrection’, that led to more than 300 deaths, the country is still wrestling with profound political and economic challenges and enduring fears of more unrest.

The rioting that erupted in parts of South Africa on July 12 last year, over former President Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment, caused damage worth R25b.

ALSO read: R5.8 billion in insurance claims paid businesses hit by July unrest

This is according to Sasria, South Africa’s government insurance company, that covers special risks like public disorder, riots and terrorism.

Zuma supporters protested against his 15-month incarceration after he declined to testify in the Zondo Commission, an investigation into allegations of state capture, corruption, fraud, and other allegations in the public sector, including organs of state, initiated in January 2018.

On 22 July 2021, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a minister in the president’s office, revealed that 337 people died and more than 200 shopping centres were looted in the KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng provinces during the looting. The rioters ransacked shops and stole groceries, liquor, electrical appliances and clothes, according to official figures. Factories and warehouses were also robbed and burned.

What started as a protest on 9 July, in an attempt to have Zuma released from jail, damaged South Africa’s economy, with freight trucks burned in KwaZulu-Natal causing key highways used to ferry goods from Indian Ocean ports to the other parts of the country to be shut down.

Also read: Businesses begin to recover from KZN unrest

A report from the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJOINTS) indicates that KwaZulu-Natal was hit the hardest with extensive damage to more than 160 malls and shopping centres, 11 warehouses, eight factories and 161 liquor outlets and distributors in Durban. As of 16 July, about 3 407 were arrested by police for causing riots.

Find more details on the series of incidents leading up to the looting below:

July 9: Protesters started by barricading the N2 northbound between uMhlanga and Sibaya and the Gateway on-ramp. Vehicles were being stoned on the N3 near Pavilion Shopping Mall. On the N2 southbound, before the M7, protestors were blocking the road and lighting fires. The N2 south near Umgababa was also affected.

July 10: More than 20 trucks were set alight near the Mooi Plaza toll, including a carrier truck that was transporting vehicles. Protest action continued on major intersections and roads.

July 11: Unrest, protests, roadblocks and looting and burning of trucks continued in Mooi River. Protest action, barricading of roads, burning of tyres occurred throughout Durban. Businesses in Pinetown, Reservoir Hills, Phoenix and Chatsworth were looted.

July 12: The South African rand weakened as much as 2% on July 12, the most it had since February 25 last year. President Ramaphosa deployed 2 500 members of the South African National Defence Force to tackle riots and addressed the nation on looting and public unrest. Clinics and vaccination sites were closed due to threats by rioters.

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At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.

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