Two men die in Alex looting

The violent protests that hit Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal over the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma have claimed the lives of 10 people.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night said the devastating protests which have led to the destruction of livelihoods, economy and property could not be allowed to continue happening.

The deceased are Nkosikhona Chiza, Ndumiso Shezi, Khaya Mkhize, Zethembe Ndwandwe, Lindani Bhengu and Lindokuhle Gumede from across Gauteng, and Bhekani Ndlovu, Themba Mthembu, Aphiwe Gama and Cebo Dlamini from KZN.

Ramaphosa said 166 and 323 arrests had been made in KZN and Gauteng, respectively. Sowetan team was in Alexandra, northern Johannesburg on Monday when the bodies of two men were discovered

Thousands of residents looted shops in the township on Monday morning.

The body of a man lay outside the Capitec Bank branch near the Pan Africa Mall about 10am. His body was surrounded by bricks which had been used by looters to fend off the police.

About two hours later, another body was discovered 300m from the first one on the side of the road. It was covered in a cloth but none of the residents were willing to speak about how the person was killed. The two deceased men were not part of the six deaths that were confirmed by the police.

Violence started in KwaZulu-Natal and spread to Gauteng and other provinces by Sunday evening. Police have been struggling to contain the crowds looting shops in Alexandra. 

“When things are like this, there is nothing we can do,” said one of the police officers who was on the scene.

Throughout the day, police were visibly outnumbered and the crowd took advantage of the situation.

Different groups looted different shops at the same time.

Members of the public order policing unit who spoke to Sowetan said the situation was beyond their control.

“We have just returned from the Constitutional Court and now we have to come here. As you can see there is a few of us. Some members of the unit had to go to KwaZulu-Natal because the situation is bad there. We are really stretched thin,” said one of the officers.

Another officer said: “There is really nothing we can do in this kind of situation. Looting is sporadic and we cannot be everywhere.”

At the beginning of the protest in the early hours of the morning there were just two police vehicles —an inyala and a van — monitoring the crowd. Later in the day about five vehicles were on the streets.

Police said they were investigating the circumstances of the death of four people since the start of the violent protest in Gauteng.

on Monday, Alexandra residents were seen loading furniture and groceries into vans, taxis and Toyota Avanzas which serve as local taxis in the township. Pan Africa Mall was dissipated into nothing. Many shops were looted, including African Bank and Capitec Bank branches.

Osbro Home, a furniture shop, became the next target after the mall was looted. Gas stoves, sofas, wardrobes and other furniture items were taken.

The looting at the furniture shop got so bad that people started fighting over the items. Inside the shop, there was what seemed like a gas explosion which forced the crowd to take cover.

Some of the Alexandra residents emerged from the shop bleeding as people were pushing to get inside the shop.

At a Chicken Licken outlet next to the furniture shop was not spared. People broke the door and helped themselves to frozen chicken.

Looters also visited Jabulani Mall in Soweto in the afternoon. Countless young men, women and children were seen running towards the direction of the mall to go and help themselves to goods. They stole clothes, boxes of shoes, pillows, mattresses, flat screen TV sets, large fridges, irons, blankets, meat and other grocery items.

The residents living nearby used green trolleys to take the goods out of the mall. Perhaps the most difficult task for the looters was trying to open a liquor shop with a hammer so that they could help themselves to the alcohol inside.  

When asked why they were looting, they said they are fed up with the imprisonment of Zuma.

“Zuma is an old man. He is sick. They [government] should allow him to serve his sentence at home,” said one of the looters.

Another looter who did not want to be identified said Zuma should be released because no-one was held accountable for the Marikana massacre.

“After Marikana [massacre], no-one was arrested. Why is President Cyril Ramaphosa arresting Zuma now?”