A wave of looting and burning enveloped South Africa’s populous provinces of KwaZulu-Natal (K.Z.N.) and Gauteng, beginning Friday night, July 9. It was triggered by the arrest of former President Jacob Zuma, who had surrendered to authorities on July 7, to serve a 15-month term for contempt of court. However, the political protest quickly shaded into organized and unorganized non-political criminality. Shops and shopping malls, ATMs, liquor stores, and restaurants were the chief targets. (Unemployment is 43%, the economy is constantly being disrupted by blackouts, and the country is currently under a Level 4 lockdown as a result of COVID-19.)
President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation ineffectually at about 9 pm July 12. The Army was called out to support the police after he spoke. The mayhem was still continuing in K.Z.N. as of this writing, but had just ended in Gauteng.
