Riots in SA: KwaZulu-Natal stable, no new looting incidents – Ntshavheni

It appears the riots could officially be over, as Acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has not reported any new incidents related to the recent unrest. While Gauteng has essentially returned to normal, particularly because the unrest in the province started dying down much sooner than in KZN.

Ntshavheni gave an update on government’s response to the unrest, which rocked parts of Gauteng and KZN on Monday afternoon, 19 July 2021.

While the situation in KZN has also improved, the death toll from the riots has sadly risen to 215, after three fatalities were picked up.

“In KwaZulu-Natal, the situation is stable and no new incidents of looting were reported, however 3 additional deaths have been reported. Ministers and provincial leadership led by the Premier continued with stakeholder and community engagements to calm the tensions in the communities,” the minister said.

No more riots in Gauteng

Gauteng for the most part, had returned to calm, but law enforcement officials continued monitoring malls and other business establishments which had been targeted during the looting sprees. Just days later, some concerned community members and other people took part in a number of clean-up drives at the establishments that were affected, including in Alexandra and Jabulani in Johannesburg.

“The situation in Gauteng has completely stabilised and the clean-up and business continuity efforts were fully for those businesses that were not completely vandalised. President Ramaphosa in his capacity as President of the governing party and other leaders of the governing ANC either joined the clean-up campaigns in instances where the community driven cleaning initiatives were still underway or they observed the damage wrought by the riots and the repair work by property owners”

Acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni

Ntshavheni also said government is in the process of providing immediate food relief to households targeting areas affected by the looting where people have no access to food.

“We are calling upon communities to assist law enforcement agencies by not buying stolen property,” she said.