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That headline is how the continued violence and destruction is once again being covered overseas. We are fortunate that the videos we all share over WhatsApp aren’t that widely publicized. Once again, we are in turmoil and again it relates to Jacob Zuma. I can’t imagine most of his so-called supporters could explain why their “support” for him involves breaking into shops and stealing all the goods.
I was surprised that the Minister of Police praised the Police for their efforts. I hardly think what we have seen represents law and order – but he may know things that I don’t. Those things would have to be pretty scary to be praising what appears to be a police force overwhelmed and simply standing by in many cases.
I appreciate that there is a fear of another Marikana, but I can’t help but feel the Police should have used more of everything – from tear gas and rubber bullets to potentially live ammunition. We simply cannot have violence and carnage and lives at risk like we have seen this week.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Wednesday 14-Jul-21
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Comments
thembi said:
on Thursday 26-Aug-21 10:04 AM
The looting was bad, People they loosing their work. Now they starving they dont have shops to buy food,
Jolene said:
on Monday 16-Aug-21 11:13 AM
Shocking and heartbreaking. The police were not prepared at all. The police failed to intervene to stop looters. It was at least good to see how the communities came together to protect their homes and businesses.
Sandra said:
on Friday 13-Aug-21 12:46 PM
The looting created more economic difficulties and we will probably have to face and pay a price for this
Bronwyn said:
on Friday 13-Aug-21 12:43 PM
This was one of the most scariest times and a heartbreaking experience. The impact on our economy when the economy is struggling as it is
Shristi said:
on Friday 13-Aug-21 11:50 AM
It was absolutely frightening and disheartening. My family is in Durban and watching them live in such fear was so heartbreaking. They described it as a war zone. I still cannot fathom how they thought looting would solve their problems.
Nikita said:
on Friday 13-Aug-21 10:36 AM
I think that although it was politically motivated it got to the extremes that it did because of the lack of jobs and poverty in our country. What did the corrupt government think was going to happen? That people would just tolerate starving and lack of basic human resources forever? Its unfortunate that so many businesses had to pay the price.
Sinead said:
on Friday 13-Aug-21 10:29 AM
My friend was in Durban when all of these riots were happening. She said that she couldn't even go to the garage. She couldn't make it back to Jhb and had to wait for things to calm down first before returning home.
I remember hearing about the highways in Jhb as well. Luckily, on those days, I managed to avoid the highways completely.
I don't see any justification for the riots and looting.
fikile said:
on Friday 13-Aug-21 10:20 AM
The looting was bad and for the minister to praise the police is just useless because they were also looting. We kept hearing that they took some of the ATMs, safes to the police station but to be blunt, I don't think those things made it to the police station, yes some of the police did their jobs but most of them didn't because they were thinking about themselves. By my house the police stopped a van that had alcohol on it and they hit the driver and took the alcohol for themselves, how is that a good job?
Lucretia said:
on Friday 13-Aug-21 10:00 AM
Total disgust in what has happened. I am hungry, let's steal a TV, I am hungry, let's steal clothes..... What is more disgusting is that there are people who were caught stealing goods, alcohol included who are business men and employed people. The rot starts at the top.......................
Zandelee said:
on Friday 13-Aug-21 09:31 AM
The pandemic itself and lockdown has shuttered businesses and killed tourism for South Africa. The riots has now exacerbated the impact of the pandemic. It was sad to see that the riots weakened the Rand by 2% affecting our economy even more.
Kathryn said:
on Friday 13-Aug-21 09:27 AM
The logic of looting in support of a man who looted the country is lost on me.
Daniella said:
on Friday 13-Aug-21 09:26 AM
The looting was really shocking! really scary how quickly everything happened and even scarier to see how poorly trained are police force is.
Claudia B said:
on Friday 13-Aug-21 09:25 AM
The looting has caused so much damage to our country. It's sad to know that the Police didn't take this more seriously.
Brenda Strydom said:
on Friday 13-Aug-21 09:20 AM
The looting was shocking for me how can that be allowed, i understand that people do struggle due to Covid with the people loosing they jobs but to go and loot all the shops is not going to help, They just made it worse.
Lauren said:
on Friday 13-Aug-21 09:19 AM
The looting that took place made our country look lawless. It exposed the lack of control and power our government actually has over the masses.
Brumilde Cronje said:
on Friday 13-Aug-21 09:18 AM
Those are the top are not always meant to lead. The police should have stepped in earlier with heavier force. Give them a hiding and lets move on. because the actions that was taken shows "IT'S OK
Franzelle Ekron said:
on Friday 30-Jul-21 02:08 PM
I actually have no words for this Country anymore. Absolutely disgusting & disheartening
chante botha said:
on Friday 30-Jul-21 10:36 AM
This looting has caused so much unemployment and shop owners losing everything they have worked so hard for. Covid already hit this country hard and now this looting can spread covid like wild fire and now everyone is suffering because of it. I have no words for the things happening in our country. #PrayforSA
Chante said:
on Friday 30-Jul-21 10:16 AM
The police should have definitely done more to stop the looters. At the end of the day shop owners and employees had done more to protect their businesses. It is crazy to me that the looting continued even after so many people had died (including looters themselves). It's sad that this is what it has come to.
Angelique Jurgens said:
on Friday 30-Jul-21 10:14 AM
I have never seen anything like it. Absolutely disgusting & disheartening. The presidents response & law enforcement was disappointing to say the least. Many communities and workers are going to pay a huge price for this anarchy. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are going to be lost and vital community services are going to be severely disrupted by this brazen looting and destruction.
Zindy Kruger said:
on Tuesday 27-Jul-21 09:56 AM
The sad thing is that this will effect people for so many years to come. This has caused even more job losses and so much property destruction it will take companies years to rebuild if they are even able too. Very sad indeed. They loot shops not realizing that every action has a reaction because of this people will again push prices up to make up money they lost. So did it really help? They claim to be hungry and now they will be paying more for something they couldn't afford in the first place really a loosing battle in this country.
Brenda Strydom said:
on Monday 26-Jul-21 07:33 AM
I'm shocked and I have no words . The people went crazy and it was sad to see everywhere and how they did it.
Ashleigh De Villiers said:
on Tuesday 20-Jul-21 03:37 PM
I've watched many video's where the people looting were approached to find out their reasoning and their answers are that they are hungry. There were most probably a hand full of people who did it for Jacob Zuma but the rest just took advantage of the situation and helped themselves. It was purely theft from all angles and obviously they had all the time to do it because it was not dealt with as a matter of urgency.
Ziyanda said:
on Monday 19-Jul-21 01:24 PM
It is heartbreaking to see the damage that has been done to some of the Malls I frequently visit. I can only imagine how the people who work there are feeling since it is not guaranteed that all the shops will open again because they were already struggling with COVID.
Danielle said:
on Friday 16-Jul-21 04:16 PM
Just when we think that businesses & people are getting on there feet again now this. It's hart breaking and devastating that we need to deal with this on top off the virus stress that we have. Something has to be done to stop our country from falling.
Henrietta said:
on Friday 16-Jul-21 11:51 AM
I have no words. I'm shocked at the video's and news. Barbaric was the repeated word in my mind with the chaos I was seeing. How in the world can one be so barbaric and storm into a shop and just take what you want cause you can. The anger I feel must be 100 time more for the shop owners and for what? Let's not even talk about the useless SAPS because some was even caught with the products in their car!! and this is the people we suppose to rely on when things get tough? I have never witness such barbaric behavior in my life and am not proud to be part of SA. And then you get Zuma's son who urges rioters to 'loot responsibly' now how in the world does that even make remotely sense. Does he even know what the work responsibly means. I mean it just gets better
Melissa said:
on Friday 16-Jul-21 11:10 AM
This is absolutely devastating as they keep on destroying things and then they want to complain that they don't have any food or jobs. They must stop shooting the people with rubber bullets and use live ammunition, that is the only thing that will help
Roxanne Rautenbach said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 01:48 PM
It is so sad what is happening, is this what we are teaching our children. Such a beautiful country brought to their knees.
Victoria said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 12:51 PM
These past two years have been terrible, doesn't even seem like we will get over this virus or the riots and looting. The future for this country and its people is looking dark and sad. Something has to be done to stop this damage that people are causing! It has taken people years and years to build themselves up and it has taken stupid people to destroy it within seconds without a care in the world. I am devastated about our current situation, Covid is killing so many people a day now even more people are dying within the riots and stampedes. My heart is shattered. #PrayForSA
Helen said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 12:13 PM
With a tears in my eyes I am watching beautiful country South Africa burning in the fire, what was built and invested are looted, burned and destroyed.
I am scared for all of us, who are in the middle of all of this disaster.
It is time to act and stop this mess, caused by criminals.
Time to shut down this country and re - store the law and order with live ammunition.
Lucretia said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 09:58 AM
I don't know why people are so surprised by this. The government has been looting for the last 27 years. The sad thing is, those who are at the top will not feel the devastation of these actions. I worry about the flood of unemployment this is going to cause, like a black shop owner said herself, what the looters have taken from her will be gone within a week, her business has gone and she will now be unemployed for the rest of her life because she cannot pick up the pieces. The government has failed South Africans hugely - where to from here.......
Dasanya said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 09:18 AM
What has been happening has been truly devastating and disruptive to many people. These riots have given rise to opportunists which has impacted the incomes of many shop owners. We are living in such sad times where people are risking their own lives looting whilst dealing with Covid19. I agree that more can be done by law enforcement to deal with these riots
Bianca Niemann said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 09:08 AM
It is unbelievable that the Minister would still praise the SAPS, when you can see that the rioters obviously were outnumbering the SAPS members. I honestly feel that although some of the rioters are really doing this in the name of Zuma (which in itself makes no sense seeing as he has not done a single thing for this country), most just saw this as an opportunity to behave like morons. As if surviving a global pandemic in this country is not hard enough, these rioters also decided to start the purge.
Clare said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 08:59 AM
What more do we need to deal with? First covid, now protests and winter come on. The job loss already at the highest its ever been and to add more is crazy. People are destroying everything and for what?? Please guys think before you do something. You want a man out of jail when..;. five years ago you wanted the same man in jail really. I hope something positive happens soon. GBWU
Sune said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 08:57 AM
I have lost all hope, our beautiful country is burning, people are dying. I think it is time for the President to declare a State of Emergency and try to safe what is left of this country.
Melissa van Tellingen said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 08:56 AM
I am disgusted at their actions. I am not proudly South African at all. The army was deployed, but where and how are they making a difference? I agree 100% with Kayla. Brutal force is needed to stop the riots and chaos. They need to realize that their actions have consequences and that's the only way they will learn a lesson. This isn't about Zuma anymore. They are opportunistic idiots who don't know what effects this all will have on our economy.
Megan said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 08:50 AM
I have no words for the sad state we're in, I'm scared for us truly. We as a country keep getting into situations we do not know how to handle and rely on other countries to help us, I don't see anyone willingly shipping supplies to us with all that's going on at the harbours! told to stock up and buy everything you need but there's just not enough time... Innocent civilians starving to death.
Michelle B said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 08:49 AM
I have lost hope in this country. We are all going to suffer in some way because of this.
Jessica said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 08:43 AM
We have had many protests before and they blew over in two or 3 days, this one seems to be more of a war than an actual riot. People are starving, so they desperate. I feel they used Zuma being locked up as their way to loot and take things honestly. It's very very sad times right now and scary.
Kayla said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 08:41 AM
I really believe that rubber bullets is not going to help anything. The President spoke , deployed the army, they are still proceeding and destroying everything in their path. The only way to stop them is with brutal force and that's proper real bullet. You want to cause turmoil and destruction, you will be shot down. The fact that they are still carrying on just says they are not scared and do not care. This is just an excuse to steal and cause destruction. They need to bring in the martial law with this "Protest".
Alexis said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 08:21 AM
It is utter lotacracy to say the least. And one must remember that and officer cannot merely just shoot, there was a police man on the radio saying that he has a family and if he decides to pull the trigger, will be prosecuted himself. The army is now involved and I really do hope that this comes to an end and soon. There are plenty theories out there and now hospitals are being filled up with the injured and we are tackling COVID on top of that.....I read on the news today, that food supplies will run out in 4 days and it was on the news yesterday to say that people must stock up
david said:
on Wednesday 14-Jul-21 07:07 AM
the South African Police Dis-service.
SAPD.
the Afrikaans abbreviation is correct.
to be honest, i am more scared of the Greenside Scout Troop.
the scouts can do cool knots and make fire with sticks.
the police cannot help anyone - ask them yourself and see!
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
