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
‘Germany stands in dark hours with Magdeburg’: Memorial service held for Christmas market attack victims
A memorial service has taken place in Magdeburg, Germany, for the victims of a Christmas market attack.
At least five people were killed and more than 200 others injured when a car ploughed into crowds shopping on Friday evening.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (C) and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (R) at the memorial service. Pic: AP
Among those attending the service in the city’s cathedral was Chancellor Olaf Scholz, interior minister Nancy Faeser and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
In a post on X, Mr Scholz described it as a “moving moment of compassion and solidarity for a deeply affected city”.
“The whole of Germany stands in these dark hours with the people of Magdeburg,” he wrote.
Magdeburg marked the tragedy on Saturday with the cathedral bells tolling at 7.04pm local time (6.04pm UK time), exactly 24 hours after the attack.
German football also paid tribute to the victims with silences before Bundesliga games on Saturday evening.
Earlier, while visiting the scene of the atrocity, Mr Scholz said: “There is no more peaceful and cheerful place than a Christmas market.
“What a terrible act it is to injure and kill so many people there with such brutality.”
Read more:
What we know about attack so far
Magdeburg in shock as it tries to make sense of the senseless
The aftermath of the Christmas market attack. Pic: Reuters
Young child among the dead
Four adults and a nine-year-old child were killed when a black BMW was driven into people at the Christmas market.
Of those injured, 41 are said to be seriously hurt, and authorities have warned the number of dead could rise.
Meanwhile, a man is being questioned by police after being arrested at the scene.
He has been named by German media as Taleb A, with his surname being withheld in line with privacy laws, although the name has not been confirmed by German authorities.
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What do we know about ‘Taleb A’?
Saudi suspect being held
The suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi citizen who worked as a doctor and arrived in Germany in 2006, premier of Saxony-Anhalt state Reiner Haseloff said.
Taleb A is being investigated for five counts of suspected murder and 205 counts of suspected attempted murder, prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens said.
The motive for the atrocity is not yet known.
Investigators are looking into whether the attack could have been motivated by the suspect’s dissatisfaction with how Germany treats Saudi refugees, Mr Nopens added.
Interior minister Nancy Faeser told reporters it was “clear” the suspect was “Islamophobic”.
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German police detain suspect
Residents in Magdeburg told Sky’s Europe correspondent Siobhan Robbins they are “shocked” and “traumatised” by the attack.
One woman said she “can’t find words to describe how traumatised we are”.
“We need a lot of time to process what happened,” she said.
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Magdeburg attack: A timeline of what happened
‘Show solidarity’
She added she wanted to attend the memorial service to “show solidarity” with others in the city and “feel collective support”.
“In such a tragedy the only thing that can help us to absorb and to process everything is to be around each other and to show our solidarity, not just with words but actions.”
Narrow escape
Andrea Reis, 57, and her daughter Julia, 34, had been at the market on Friday evening and had a narrow escape.
They could have been in the path of the car but Julia had wanted to keep walking around the market rather than stop to eat.
Andrea said: “It was the terrible sounds, children calling ‘mama, papa’, ‘help me’ – they’re going round in my head now.”
Although many people went to the site on Saturday with candles to mourn the victims, several hundred far-right protesters gathered in a central square in Magdeburg with a banner that read “remigration”, reported news agency dpa.
World
Christmas market suspect may have been ‘dissatisfied with treatment of Saudi refugees in Germany’: Here’s what we know
The suspect in the attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg appeared to be dissatisfied with the treatment of Saudi refugees in Germany, a prosecutor has said.
On Friday evening, a car was driven at speed into visiting crowds in the central German city.
Five people have died so far – including a nine-year-old child and four adults – with at least 200 more injured, according to authorities. Of those injured, 41 are said to be seriously hurt.
The suspect – who was arrested at the scene – was a 50-year-old Saudi citizen who worked as a doctor and arrived in Germany in 2006, premier of Saxony-Anhalt state Reiner Haseloff said.
He has been named as Taleb A in German media.
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Magdeburg attack: A timeline of what happened
Police director Tom-Oliver Langhans told a news conference on Saturday the attack had left the city “very alarmed”.
He added that officers arrested the suspect three minutes after the first emergency calls were made from the market.
Prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens said the motive behind the attack appeared to be “dissatisfaction with the treatment of refugees from Saudi Arabia and how they are being treated in Germany”.
German interior minister Nancy Faeser has said the suspect was Islamophobic.
The suspect has described himself as an “ex-Muslim” who sought asylum after receiving death threats for denouncing his faith.
His social media pages, which he posted on in the hours leading up to the attack, promote anti-Islam views – and claim Germany is allowing the “Islamisation of Europe”.
Map
Read more
What we know about the attack so far
Video shows suspect being arrested
The suspect, who says he works as a psychiatrist at a government hospital, has appeared in various media reports about his efforts to help other former Muslims flee Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations.
Tamara Zieschang, the state’s interior minister, told reporters the suspect had been practising medicine in Bernburg, around 25 miles south of Magdeburg.
He has a website that he told the BBC in 2019 has helped “hundreds of people” seek asylum overseas.
The homepage reads: “My advice: do not seek asylum in Germany.”
In videos with voiceovers in English, he claims he is being pursued by German police, who “sent someone carrying a knife to steal a USB stick from my mailbox”.
Special police forces at the incident.
Pic: AP
Tweets supporting Elon Musk and Tommy Robinson
Another tweet criticises a commentator for saying X owner Elon Musk and far-right activist Tommy Robinson should be arrested.
He claims they “cited Germany as a shining example of media censorship”, and adds: “My experience in Germany leaves no doubt – they actually censor victims.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
German terrorist expert Professor Peter Neumann described the suspect’s profile as unusual.
He says he “loves the AfD [Alternative for Germany] and wants to punish Germany for tolerance towards Islamists”, the director of King’s College London’s International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation wrote on X.
Professor Neumann said: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore… that really wasn’t on my radar.”
The doors of the white van are thrown open. Dozens of armed French police jump on board, their colleagues on the ground form a human chain and get to work.
The van is carrying precious cargo. Water. Small plastic bottles stacked roof high and van deep.
It’s chaotic.
Orders are being shouted in French and Chimaore, the language spoken by Mayotte’s African community.
Security is high. The gendarmes are backed up by armed local police.
Local residents are angry. That anger could easily turn to violence.
It’s why a 10pm curfew remains in place across the island. One resident described the situation as “volcanic”.
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Short supply of aid after Cyclone Chido
Cyclone Chido tore through Mayotte on Sunday, but this is the first water delivery Ouangani has received since Saturday.
Nobody understands why.
‘There’s no word and no one has water’
Arriving at the distribution centre just after the water is loaded on to another van for delivery to nearby villages is Ouangani’s mayor, a young, former English teacher who speaks multiple languages.
He is considered and thoughtful when describing the situation facing his country.
“It’s not sufficient,” he tells me. “There’s no word and no one has water.”
“The authorities weren’t prepared,” he adds. “There’s not only a water problem, it’s food, electricity. Nothing on the island has been done.”
He then delivers a dire warning of “people starving”.
The destruction caused by Cyclone Chido
Residents expressed their fury at the response to the cyclone
I ask him who he thinks is to blame? He says that everyone is responsible.
“I cannot imagine that with all the means we have with technology, that they couldn’t have seen this coming,” he says.
But this region is not remote. It’s only an hour-long drive south of the capital on one winding road.
That’s why there is so much fury.
The man who challenged French President Emmanuel Macron is from here.
“Where is our water?!’, he demanded of the leader on his visit to the Indian Ocean island.
Read more from Sky News:
What we know so far about Germany attack
US says it killed Islamic State leader
Girl, 7, killed and more injured in school attack
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Macron met with anger in Mayotte
This van load of water is supposed to serve between three to five villages in the area.
That’s a population of anywhere between six and 12,000 people. Nobody knows for sure because of the problem with undocumented migrants.
We follow the van to the first drop-off.
The vehicle pulls up and drops off 10 to 20 crates of half-litre plastic bottles. Each crate has 12 small bottles. People have been waiting. They’re mostly women. Each one grabs a pack and disappears.
Within minutes it’s all gone.
Some more people show up seconds later. Their anger at missing out is obvious. “What’s the point?!” a man shouts.
‘It’ll only last about one or two hours’
Fundi has been lucky enough to get some water.
“We only just received aid now, I really don’t think that’s good enough,” she says.
Fundi has a family of seven and said the water given out would only last a couple of hours
They were just outside when they saw the van arrive with the water. Pure luck.
“Usually communication is good, but I don’t know why they came unannounced like that today,” she says.
But it’s not enough, Fundi explains: “Twelve bottles of water that are only 500ml, for a family? That’s really very little, it’ll only last about one to two hours.”
It’s no wonder, Fundi has a family of seven living under one roof.
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