A jailed former president and COVID-19: Why people are rioting and looting in South Africa
More than 70 people have died and major infrastructure has been damaged after days of rioting and looting in parts of South Africa.
The widespread disorder has affected thousands of businesses as people have been filling up their cars and trucks with stolen food and other goods in two of the country’s nine provinces – KwaZulu-Natal, where Durban is located, and Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg.
Here we take a look at the events that have led to South Africa dealing with some of its worst unrest since the end of white minority rule in 1994.
The rioting broke out after former president Jacob Zuma was jailed
The former president is sent to jail
The unrest broke out after ex-president Jacob Zuma handed himself over to start a 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court last week.
The 79-year-old’s supporters believe the former leader is the victim of a political witch-hunt and have burned tyres and blocked roads in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Support for Zuma stems partly from his image as a man of the people during his nine years in power until 2018.
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‘Out of control’ looting at South African warehouses
Some see his jailing as an attack on the nation’s largest ethnic group, the Zulu.
Many wealthy and middle-class South Africans were overjoyed when Zuma was ousted after multiple sleaze and graft allegations, but he still retains loyal followings in KwaZulu-Natal and some poor, rural areas.
His support among the population mirrors a division within the governing African National Congress (ANC), where a pro-Zuma faction opposes his successor President Cyril Ramaphosa.
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Fires and looting of Durban warehouses
Widespread poverty and inequality
The hardship that persists 27 years after the end of apartheid in 1994 is a major reason why hundreds of shops and dozens of malls have been stripped bare.
Statistics agency data show roughly half of the country’s 35 million adults live below the poverty line and that young people are disproportionately affected by unemployment.
South Africa has one of the highest levels of inequality in the world according to the commonly-used Gini index, with a “dual economy” catering to a small, mostly white elite, and large, mainly black majority.
Moves by the ANC, which has governed since the start of democratic rule, to redistribute land and wealth have progressed slowly.
COVID-19
The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated poverty, with a recent survey showing a sharp increase in hunger.
Official unemployment hit a record high above 32% in the first three months of 2021.
Although the government increased social grants to cushion the pandemic, it cannot afford to match the costly furlough schemes of wealthier nations.
Businesses have had their properties ransacked in parts of the nation
Criminal elements
South African police have said some criminals have been taking advantage of anger over Zuma’s imprisonment by stealing and damaging property.
So far more than 1,200 people have been arrested as the chaos in the country has left at least 72 people dead.
Many of the deaths were caused by chaotic stampedes as thousands of people have stolen food, electric appliances, alcohol and clothing from stores, police said.
People have been looting stores in the poverty-stricken country
Inflammatory messages
People linked with Zuma, including his own daughter Duduzile, are fanning the violence with inflammatory comments and social media posts, security officials say.
Mzwanele Manyi, a spokesman for Zuma’s charitable foundation, attributed some early acts of violence to “righteous anger”.
Manyi told the Reuters news agency that the violence could have been avoided and that the manner in which Zuma was jailed reminded people of the apartheid days.
Meanwhile, an account bearing Duduzile’s name has repeatedly posted images and videos of protests and violence on Twitter with the rallying cry “Amandla!” (Power!) used during the liberation struggle.
The ANC has said it is concerned by the tweets and that party member Duduzile will have to explain herself.
World
Chinese spy balloon: US sec of state Blinken speaks with senior Chinese official over cancelled visit
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has spoken with a senior Chinese official about his postponed trip to the country.
US officials said Mr Blinken spoke to the Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Office Wang Yi today postponing the planned visit.
But the secretary of state “indicated he would plan to travel” to China “at the earliest opportunity when conditions allow”.
Officials also said they “noted” China’s statement of regret but said “the presence of this balloon in our airspace is a clear violation of our sovereignty, as well as international law, and it is unacceptable that this has occurred”.
The diplomatic wrangling comes after a Chinese surveillance balloon has been tracked by US intelligence in recent days.
In a press conference today, the US defence department has said the Chinese spy balloon is heading eastwards but poses “no physical or military threat” to civilians.
The Pentagon’s press secretary would not confirm the current location of the balloon, which is operating at around 60,000ft.
There is also no evidence of any nuclear or radioactive material on board but it has the ability to be manoeuvred, according to Brigadier General Pat Ryder.
The spy balloon’s route from China over the Aleutian Islands, through Canada and into Montana
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He also rejected Chinese claims that the balloon was in fact a “civilian airship” that had strayed into American airspace.
The US authorities said it now knows the object – spotted over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday, close to one of the US’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base – was a Chinese balloon flying over sensitive sites to collect information.
A map showing where the balloon was spotted and the US’s Malmstrom Air Force Base
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a high-profile visit to China which had been due to begin on Sunday.
Senior state department officials described the incident as a “clear violation of US sovereignty and international law” and said conditions were “not right at this moment” for Mr Blinken to travel.
Mr Blinken was prepared to depart for China tonight before the trip was postponed, Sky News understands.
He plans to travel “when conditions allow”, according to officials.
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Pentagon spokesman said that suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over the US has ‘violated international law’, adding that it doesn’t pose any physical threat for people on the ground.
The Foreign Ministry in Beijing admitted the balloon had come from China – but said it was for meteorological and other scientific research.
The Pentagon spokesperson said it is “monitoring the situation closely and will continue to review options”.
Read more:
What are spy balloons?
China responds to claims by the US that it has identified a Chinese ‘surveillance balloon’ over Montana
The balloon will probably remain over the US for a few days, the spokesperson added.
US officials also confirmed military intelligence had previously seen similar surveillance balloons elsewhere.
The object is believed to have flown over the Aleutian Islands, off the coast of Alaska, and through Canada before entering the US.
Military and defence leaders had considered shooting the balloon out of the sky but decided against it due to the safety risk from falling debris.
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin convened a meeting of senior military and defence leaders to review the threat profile of the balloon and possible responses, which were presented to US President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
President Biden, speaking at a White House conference about jobs earlier today, refused to answer questions on the topic.
The US has engaged Chinese officials “with urgency” and communicated the seriousness of the situation.
China and the US have experienced tensions of late, clashing over Taiwan and China’s human rights record and its military activity in the South China Sea.
Opposition to Russians being allowed to compete at next year’s Paris Olympics is intensifying, as the UK government prepares to convene talks with more than 30 countries.
The summit is due to be held next Friday 10 February.
The International Olympic Committee is facing dissent over its willingness to allow athletes from Russia to compete as neutrals in Paris next year in defiance of pleas from Ukraine, following Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
Ukrainian Olympic officials decided on Friday to consult on a possible boycott of the Olympics and an outright ban on Russian athletes – a stance supported by the leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania which border Russia and gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Lithuania’s sports minister Jurgita Siugzdiniene told Sky News that her British counterpart has organised a virtual meeting next Friday involving more than 30 countries on excluding athletes from Russia and Belarus from the Olympics.
As well as European governments, officials from Canada, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea are among the global participants in the meeting. Poland has said it would be possible to build a coalition of about 40 countries, including the US, Britain and Canada.
“We should do everything [so] Russian and Belarusian athletes would not participate in the Olympics, and even under the veil of neutrality,” Ms Siugzdiniene said.
“That’s what we should agree and that is very important. And so in that way we wouldn’t need to discuss the boycott.”
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Who is winning the war in Ukraine?
The IOC announced last week that it was open to athletes from Russia and Belarus – which has been used as a staging post for the invasion of Ukraine – competing as neutrals in Paris if they have not actively supported the war.
“I see it as an effort to legitimise and distract attention from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” Ms Siugzdiniene said.
“I think they can use this as a platform. So it would be very wrong that we would provide this opportunity for them.”
Read more:
Russia preparing for ‘maximum escalation’, top Ukrainian security official tells Sky News
Ex-commander of Russian mercenary group apologises for fighting in Ukraine
In the last three summer and winter Olympics between 2018 and 2022, Russian athletes have been prevented from competing with the national flag or anthem as punishment for the country’s state-sponsored doping scheme.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said any neutral flag for Russia in Paris would be “stained with blood”.
At Friday’s meeting, Ukraine’s sports minister and president of the country’s Olympic committee Vadym Hutzait said members were united “against allowing sportspeople from Russia and Belarus from competing”.
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‘Russia will respond to Western arms supplies’
In an appeal to sporting authorities, he said: “As long as the war is going on, as long as our motherland is being bombed, as long as we are fighting for freedom and independence, we have a great wish not to see them [Russians and Belarusians].
“There is a discussion on the international level and we have already some countries supporting us.”
He added: “The price of Ukrainians’ lives is of the highest value. We have no right for compromise … when our Ukrainians are dying.”
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Johnson tells the West: ‘Give Ukraine planes’
The IOC wants sports federations to allow any Russians or Belarusians who have not been “actively supporting the war in Ukraine” to take part and argues it would be discriminatory to ban athletes based on their citizenship alone.
It has responded to the comparison with Apartheid-era South Africa being excluded from the Olympics for more than 20 years, pointing out that UN sanctions were in place at the time.
“There are no UN sanctions in place against Russia and Belarus at this moment in time,” the IOC said.
But Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, can veto any proposed resolution.
Government pressure on athletes and sports bodies should also be resisted, the IOC said, adding its stated mission is “to unite the entire world in a peaceful competition”.
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