Dozens of cars torched over the weekend in Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal, where protests erupted a day after former president Jacob Zuma was imprisoned on Thursday.
South Africa’s top court is hearing a challenge by former President Jacob Zuma against a 15-month prison sentence.
But as the court hearing got underway on Monday, mobs of his angry supporters continued rioting for a fourth day in protest against his arrest by looting shops and setting fire to buildings.
Zuma was sentenced for defying a constitutional court order to give evidence at an inquiry investigating high-level corruption during his nine years in office until 2018.
The decision to jail him resulted from legal proceedings seen as a test of post-apartheid South Africa's ability to enforce the rule of law, including against powerful politicians.
In the virtual hearing, Zuma's counsel asked the court to rescind his jail term, relying on a rule that judgements can be reconsidered if made in the absence of the affected person or containing a patent error.
Legal experts say Zuma's chances of success are slim.
The situation in South Africa right now. Irreversible economical damages, looting and violence across the country.#SouthAfricaIsBurning #SouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/S7v1zfzTyr
— Zamvibe (@zamvibe) July 12, 2021
KwaZulu-Natal was hit hard by protests over the weekend, and on Monday flames could be seen coming from the roof of a shopping centre in provincial capital Pietermaritzburg as hordes of people rushed in to loot.
In Eshowe, a town near Zuma's Nkandla home, police opened fire to disperse crowds after a supermarket was ransacked early on Monday.
Police said some sections of a major road in Johannesburg had been closed because of the protests.
Dozens of cars were torched over the weekend in Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal, where protests erupted a day after Zuma was imprisoned on Thursday.
Police said dozens have been arrested.
Please share this so the world can know what is happening in South Africa right now... The #Fakenews #MainstreamMedia won't share this. Please share with all your family and friends overseas and ask them to share it. Our country is burning and the #Media is not reporting it.. pic.twitter.com/X18k3rsJjL
— Bitcoinman (@BitcoinmanRSA) July 12, 2021
The looting followed a weekend of unrest by protesters, mainly been concentrated in Zuma's home province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), with some spilling into the main commercial city of Johannesburg.
Television channels showed footage on Monday of a blaze at a mall in Pietermaritzburg, in KZN.
The channel said the highway leading to the city had been closed to prevent further violence.
A police spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zuma's core supporters, echoing his position, say he is the victim of a political witch hunt orchestrated by allies of his successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa said on Sunday there was no justification for violence and that it was damaging efforts to rebuild the economy, damaged by the Covid-19 pandemic.
NEW - Violence and looting sprees erupted in parts of central #Johannesburg today. A scene from Hillbrow shows the aftermath.pic.twitter.com/46sPJUNQ6l
— Disclose.tv 🚨 (@disclosetv) July 11, 2021
Zuma's jailing marks a significant fall for an important figure in the liberation-movement-turned ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC).
He was once jailed by South Africa's white minority rulers for his efforts to make all citizens equal before the law.
The corruption inquiry that Zuma has refused to cooperate with is examining allegations that he allowed three Indian-born businessmen, Atul, Ajay and Rajesh Gupta, to plunder state resources and peddle influence over government policy.
He and the Gupta brothers, who fled after his ouster and are believed to be living in Dubai, deny wrongdoing.
Zuma also faces a corruption case relating to a $2 billion arms deal in 1999 when he was deputy president.
He denies the charges in that case.
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