South Africa’s Supreme Court has heard a challenge from former President Jacob Zuma to a 15-month prison sentence on Monday when police said six people had been killed and more than 200 arrested in connection with protests and looting since last week.
Occasional violence and looting continued on Monday, after a weekend of unrest by pro-Zuma protesters, mainly concentrated in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Some disturbances spilled into the country’s largest city, Johannesburg.
According to police, six people have been killed and 219 arrested under escalating violence during riots. Army soldiers will be deployed to help police curb violence, the South African National Defense Force said.
Police said shops and businesses have been looted and vandalized. Traffic has been disrupted by rioters blocking major roads with burning tires and trucks, while cars have been attacked.
The deaths – four in Gauteng and two in KZN – seem to have been caused by the chaos and the police are investigating, says police chief Brenda Muridili. The police and the national security forces have increased their presence in both provinces to curb the violence, the statement said. The extent of damage to property and companies will be determined at a later stage, the police say. Police have warned that anyone using social media to encourage the riot could be arrested and prosecuted, according to the Associated Press (AP).
Zuma, 79, was convicted of defying a constitutional court order to testify in an investigation that investigated high-level corruption during his nine years in office until 2018. The decision to detain him was due to legal proceedings that were considered a test of mail -apartheid South Africa’s ability to enforce the rule of law, including against powerful politicians.
In the virtual hearing, Zoma’s lawyer asked the court to set aside his prison, citing a rule that sentences can be reconsidered if they are taken in the absence of the affected person or contain a patent error.
Legal experts say Zuma’s chances of success are slim. TV channels showed pictures on Monday of a fire in a shopping center in Pietermaritzburg in KZN. The channel said the highway leading to the city had been closed to prevent further violence.
“NatJOINTS (Government Intelligence Agency) has stepped up deployment in all areas of Gauteng (province including Johannesburg) and KwaZulu-Natal affected by the violent protests as property damage and shoplifting continued overnight,” the agency said in a statement. It is said that the bodies of four people were found – at least two of them with shots – in Gauteng. Two deaths had occurred in KZN, and all six were investigated.
Zuma’s imprisonment marks a significant fall for an important figure in the liberation-movement-turning-governing party, the African National Congress (ANC). He was once imprisoned by South Africa’s white minority leaders before 1994 for his efforts to make all citizens equal before the law. Zuma’s key supporters, who reiterate his stance, say he is the victim of a political witch hunt organized by allies after his successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa said on Sunday that there was no justification for the violence and that it was hurting efforts to rebuild the economy, damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Reuters.
The corruption investigation that Zuma has refused to cooperate with investigates allegations that he allowed three Native American businessmen, Atul, Ajay and Rajesh Gupta, to plunder state resources and sell influence over government policies. He and the Gupta brothers, who fled the country after being removed and are believed to live in Dubai, deny wrongdoing. Zuma is also facing a corruption case involving a $ 2 billion arms deal in 1999 when he was vice president. He denies the allegations in that case.
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