Troop numbers on South African streets increase to 25,000 amid looting – and more could be deployed
The number of soldiers deployed on the streets of South Africa has doubled to 5,000 as the army and police struggle to quell days of looting and violence.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is considering boosting troop numbers even more, as at least 72 people have been killed in the worst unrest in the country for years.
And some citizens are arming themselves to protect their property and businesses from the rampage, which has hit two of South Africa‘s nine provinces – KwaZulu-Natal, where Durban is located, and Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg.
In the Mobeni area of Durban, several food warehouses and a rice depot have been “invaded” and “ransacked”, according to Sky News correspondent John Sparks.
Food warehouses have been ransacked in Durban
He described the scene as “absolute chaos” and “out of control” as looters have been “carting off” what was inside the facilities.
He said they had brought cars and trucks to fill up their vehicles with what they could get their hands on.
There has been mass looting and rioting in multiple locations in the city and elsewhere in the country, including in some areas of Johannesburg, such as Vosloorus.
The unrest was sparked by the imprisonment last week of former president Jacob Zuma, which has spiralled into days of looting.
At least 1,234 people have been arrested in waves of rioting. The violence has not spread to the country’s other seven provinces, where police are on alert.
Many of the deaths were caused by chaotic stampedes as thousands of people stole food, electric appliances, alcohol and clothing from stores, police said.
Thousands of soldiers have been deployed to support officers and try to restore law and order.
But Sparks said the army was nowhere to be seen as people were just “helping themselves”.
He added: “This is really out of control.”
“What we have here is something quite extraordinary. People have broken into food warehouses and they are stripping them, they are emptying them.”
Among the items being stolen were mattresses, kitchen appliances and boxes of sardines.
In eastern Johannesburg, some shopping centres continued to be targeted, while in Soweto township, south of the city, police and army units patrolled malls and streets.
Acting minister in the presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said the government was working with the consumer council to ensure food security.
There have been fears that the anarchy and looting could lead to food shortages.
She claimed putting troops on the streets was beginning to have the desired effect.
She said: “We are getting positive reports that the deployment of additional law enforcement agencies is starting to reap positive results as we are seeing less incidents of violence and looting reported.”
She added: “5,000 members of the national defence force have already been deployed on the ground. Law enforcement officers, supported by the military, are working tirelessly to ensure the country returns to peace and stability and that those responsible for the instability are quickly brought to book.”
Sparks had earlier been at another mass looting location where people told him they were “hungry”.
Former South African president Jacob Zuma was jailed last week
Lots of South Africans have lost jobs in the pandemic, including during lockdowns, and they were living “very much a hand-to-mouth existence”.
Sparks said COVID restrictions “have hurt people here”.
More than half of the country’s 60 million people are living in poverty, with an unemployment rate of 32%, according to official statistics.
Violence broke out after Zuma began serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court.
He was jailed for refusing to comply with a court order to testify at a state-backed inquiry investigating corruption claims while he was president from 2009 to 2018.
World
Sudan: Civilians trapped as UN warns of possible imminent attack on city of al Fashir by Rapid Support Forces
The United Nations has expressed increasing concern over a potential imminent attack on al Fashir, the capital of North Darfur in Sudan.
It comes as residents describe the city as “seriously suffocated” and besieged by Sudanese paramilitary forces known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
A spokesperson for the office of UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said in a statement that “an attack on the city would have devastating consequences for the civilian population”.
“The escalation of tensions is an area already on the brink of famine,” with the rival Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) appearing to be “positioning themselves”.
The last of Darfur’s five state capitals not under full RSF control, al Fashir city and its 800,000 inhabitants face an uncertain fate as a local ceasefire negotiated in the early days of the conflict has collapsed.
Mr Guterres has reiterated his call on all parties to refrain from fighting in the area.
At least 43 people, including women and children, have reportedly been killed since the RSF began their push into al Fashir earlier this month, Friday’s UN statement continued, and civilians are trapped in the city.
The North Darfur capital and sprawling displacement camps in its suburbs have been a haven for thousands of people displaced by armed conflict and ethnic violence in the region since the early 2000s, including the last year of war between the RSF and SAF.
Sudan was plunged into chaos in mid-April 2023 when tensions between its military, headed by General Abdel Fattah Burhan who leads the SAF, and the RSF paramilitary, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, broke out into street battles in the capital Khartoum.
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Sudan’s health system crippled by conflict
Fighting has spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas and the western Darfur region.
The conflict has left around 25 million people, or half the country’s population, needing humanitarian aid, with over eight million forced to flee their homes, said the UN.
More than 14,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands of others wounded.
Residents have told Sky News the RSF is blocking main arterial routes bringing in goods and fuel to al Fashir, leaving them with dwindling medicine, humanitarian aid and food supplies as increased army airstrikes have hit civilian homes in surrounding areas.
Many fear a telecoms blackout which marked the start of an RSF-led massacre last year in al Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, and December’s siege of Wad Madani, the capital of al Jazira state, as reports mount of an RSF advance.
Read more:
Sudan could be weeks away from a ‘catastrophic hunger crisis’
The orphaned and disabled children forced to flee fighting in Sudan
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Sudan: A year of war at home
An online video shows a large RSF convoy in the desert, with militiamen yelling “lift your head al Fashir, the steel is coming”.
“Al Fashir is unsafe and an attack is expected at any time. Three days ago, a shell fell into my uncle’s house – only 80 metres from my home. My uncle was injured and my cousin’s son died,” said Mohamed.
“The city is seriously suffocated.”
Fighting displaced 40,615 people in al Fashir between 1 and 16 April, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
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‘Where will people go?’
Aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has said it has responded to three mass casualty events in al Fashir’s South Hospital over the past week and treated over 100 wounded patients.
“The situation is already catastrophic and we are very worried that the escalation in conflict is going to make it even worse,” said MSF spokesperson Kirsty Cameron.
Alarm bells are sounding with little hope of successful intervention.
“Where will people go? People have fled to al Fashir from surrounding areas that are still unsafe. There are no more options for refuge,” said Darfuri journalist and human rights monitor Ahmed Gouja.
“They are forced to surrender to their death.”
Hamas has released a new video that appears to show two hostages who have been held in Gaza since the 7 October assault on southern Israel.
The two men, Keith Siegel, 64, and Omri Miran, 47, speak in the video against an empty background, sending their love to relatives and asking to be released.
The video was released during the Passover holiday, when Jews celebrate the biblical story of gaining freedom from slavery in Egypt.
Sky News has decided not to show the video online.
In the footage, Mr Siegel breaks down in tears as he recalls spending last year’s Passover with his family, saying he hoped they would be reunited.
Mr Miran was taken from his home in Nahal Oz in front of his wife and two daughters, while Siegel, who is a dual US citizen, was abducted with his wife, although she was released during the brief truce in November.
Keith Siegel
Omri Miran
Some 250 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage during the 7 October Hamas attack, which killed around 1,200 people.
It prompted Israel’s assault on Gaza, as it pledged to destroy Hamas and bring the hostages home.
Some 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict so far, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
Also on Saturday, Hamas said it was reviewing a new Israeli ceasefire proposal.
Hamas senior official Khalil al Hayya did not share details of Israel’s offer but said it was in response to a Hamas proposal made two weeks ago.
This included a six-week ceasefire, release of 40 civilian and sick hostages, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Israel’s foreign minister said on Saturday that the country’s planned incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah could be put on hold if a deal is struck to secure the release of Israeli hostages.
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The hostage situation is putting pressure on Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Pic: Reuters
The prospect of an attack on Rafah has prompted concern from various countries, including Israel’s staunchest ally, the US.
Meanwhile, Egypt also ramped up its efforts to broker a deal that could end the war.
An Egyptian delegation left Israel on Saturday after talks there about a “new vision” for a ceasefire in Gaza.
This would include the release of some hostages and Palestinian prisoners and the return of many displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza with “minimum restrictions”, according to an Egyptian official.
Hamas still wants a permanent ceasefire and full withdrawal of Israeli troops but Israel has rejected both of these, saying it will continue military operations until Hamas is defeated and it will maintain a security presence in Gaza.
It came as protests continued around the world calling for an end to the conflict, including pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London and at universities across the US.
World
Om Fahad: Iraqi social media influencer shot dead by gunman on motorbike who posed as food delivery rider – report
A well-known Iraqi social media influencer has reportedly been shot dead in her car by a gunman on a motorbike.
Om Fahad, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, was killed outside her home in Baghdad’s Zayouna district on Friday, according to the AFP news agency, citing security officials.
It appears the unidentified attacker pretended to be delivering food to the victim, one security source said.
Om Fahad, who has nearly half a million TikTok followers, became famous for posting light-hearted videos where she dances to Iraqi music.
Six days ago, she shared footage of herself driving in a car and also posing in front of a mirror. They have each been watched hundreds of thousands of times.
The influencer was sentenced to six months in prison in February last year for sharing videos that a court ruled contained “indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality”.
A campaign was launched in 2023 by the Iraqi government to clamp down on social media content which broke the country’s “morals and traditions”.
The interior ministry set up a committee to look for “offensive” clips on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, with several influencers being arrested.
“This type of content is no less dangerous than organised crime,” the ministry declared in a promotional video which asked the public to help by reporting such content.
“It is one of the causes of the destruction of the Iraqi family and society.”
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Speaking last year, interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan argued the morality campaign has “nothing to do with freedom of expression”.
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In 2018, gunmen in Baghdad shot dead Tara Fares, who was a model and influencer.
After years of war and sectarian conflict following the 2003 US invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq has returned to some semblance of normality despite sporadic violence, political instability and corruption.
But civil liberties, particularly among women and sexual minorities, are still constrained in a conservative and male-dominated society.
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