The deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) may not have achieved its intended impact if businesses like the Pick n Pay in Mayfield, Ekurhuleni, have fallen victim to the looting orchestrated by ‘shutdown’ rioters.
PICS: Mayfield Pick n Pay left in ruins by looters
Tuesday was a nightmarish experience for many business owners in the Gauteng metro. Factions of the Ekurhuleni community who saw the yields gained by looters in other regions of the province saw it fit to join the fray.
As a result, businesses who play a vital role in driving economic growth and job creation, like the Pick n Pay supermarket in Mayfield, were subjected to riotous looting and infrastructure damage that will cost millions to repair.
These images were shared on social media by renowned reporter Yusuf Abramjee, and they paint a horrid picture of the sheer anarchy that rang off inside the store.
This video also documents the carnage looters left inside the retail store.
Video https://t.co/RWHj1nLwMH pic.twitter.com/C4D3NIXqFz
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) July 14, 2021
Shutdown SA riots: What’s the latest?
On the sixth day of the riots, looters have not lost steam as many groups in different regions of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Gauteng charge ahead, leaving a trail of destruction that will have adverse impacts on the economy for years to come.
At the centre of the riots is the demand for the release of former president Jacob Zuma who, in his supporters view, was convicted without trial.
Zuma’s prison bid hangs in the balance after the Constitutional Court reserved its judgment in the former president’s rescission application.
Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies and soldiers have been on the ground working tirelessly to restore law and order but it appears that the sporadic spurts of unrest in different parts of the two provinces is proving to be a difficult thing to deal with.
Thus far, more than 757 suspects have been arrested for their alleged role in the looting and public violence and according to the Presidency, current incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa has instructed the National Prosecuting Authority to gather a special team of state attorneys whose assignment will be to ensure that every alleged looter and participant in the riots is remanded in prison until the conclusion of their respective trials.
Whether this hard-handed approach will deter looters remains to be seen.