South Africa is facing an imminent food shortage, ministers claim, as deadly riots wrack the country for another day.
The wave of unrest began last week following the arrest of former President Jacob Zuma, which quickly deteriorated into mass violence and looting, but the deadliest bout of violence since the first post-apartheid election of 1994 is undergirded by high unemployment and other long-term societal problems. Police minister spokesman Lirandzu Themba said Tuesday in a statement that 72 people have died due to the violence, with over 1,200 arrests.
Rioters have looted at least 800 stores, Bloomberg reported, citing the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa. More than 200 shopping malls have been hit, according to Busisiwe Mavuso, the executive director of Business Leadership South Africa. Rioters have also taken out their rage on supply trucks, with the Road Freight Association claiming that more than 35 trucks have been destroyed, costing logistics firms heavily.
Highways have been blocked off, including the vital N3 highway that connects the port of Durban with the capital and economic center Johannesburg. Durban ranks as one of the busiest ports in all of Africa, according to Reuters.
Christo van der Rheede, executive director of AgriSA, spoke of the plight of the agricultural industry in an interview with Bloomberg. Aside from looters directly raising farmers’ sugarcane fields and stealing livestock, the interruption of South Africa’s vital logistic networks in the middle of export season means that farmers are unable to harvest and transport their produce.
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“South Africans are very fortunate to receive fresh fruit, fresh meat, fresh vegetables on a daily basis. If these supply chains are disrupted, there won’t be fresh produce in stores, and people will have to rely on frozen supplies. But what do we do if we run out of that as well?” van der Rheede said.
Gavin Hudson, chief executive officer of Tongaat Hullet, elaborated: “Food is going to be a problem because shops haven’t been open for three days and many with bulk storage have been looted. We are going to face some food issues in [the province of] KwaZulu-Natal very shortly.”
Aside from food shortages, the United Nations in South Africa released a statement expressing concern over possible shortages of medical and other vital supplies. Several ambulances have been attacked by rioters, South Africa’s TimesLive reported. One group looted a blood bank.
Police are heavily outnumbered, having been mostly unable to quell the unrest. President Cyril Ramaphosa authorized the military to assist the police but only deployed 2,500 soldiers, according to Al Jazeera. In comparison, 70,000 soldiers were deployed last year to enforce the country’s COVID-19 lockdown.
Frustrated with the government’s response, many South Africans have turned to vigilantism, forming armed groups to protect their neighborhoods, stores, and property, the Guardian reported. The government has mostly discouraged such actions, with the police minister urging civilians to cooperate with soldiers and the police and refrain from taking the law into their own hands, which it fears could further inflame tensions.
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Zuma was arrested last week after being found guilty of contempt of court for refusing to testify at a government commission investigating corruption. The 79-year-old champion of the anti-apartheid movement is still highly popular among poor South Africans, who see the corruption investigation as a political witch hunt.
