The SA shutdown riots have continued on Tuesday and while reports of looting are still heard coming from a number of areas in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), scenes are a less chaotic now that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has been deployed.
Watch: SANDF sightings in hotspot areas
With former president Jacob Zuma still behind bars serving his contempt charge, tensions remain palpable in most parts of the two provinces.
Current incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation on Monday evening, where he officially issued the notice of deployment of the SANDF as commander-in-chief.
“The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure – known as NatJOINTS – has intensified deployments in all the affected areas in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
“The South African Police Service is putting measures in place to call up operational members from leave and rest-days to increase the presence of law enforcement personnel on the ground,” he said.
Over the next few days, SAPS Crime Intelligence, Defence Intelligence and State Security ministry will work in tandem under the umbrella coined the Intelligence Coordinating Committee to quell the violence.
Already, soldiers have been spotted in parts of Gauteng like Diepkloof and Katlehong, where spurts of unrest were reported on Tuesday. Here are more clips of the army seen patrolling SA shutdown hotspot areas.
SANDF members are outside the Motherwell Shopping Centre in Gqeberha.The mall was closed yesterday but is opened today.There is no looting taking place. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/QRkxKPmL9W
— Lerato Fekisi (@LThipa) July 13, 2021
Members of the SANDF are assisting JMPD with mop up operations in Bara square. Several businesses were torched in the area.#GautengShutdown#ShutdownSA (@Sesona_Ngqaks) pic.twitter.com/Vr7HcDBluL
— Team News24 (@TeamNews24) July 13, 2021
It takes Two Soldiers to arrest 100 looters, not the #BhekiCele people. Shayaaaaa SANDF #NewsroomAfrika #Indians pic.twitter.com/IvyNXGNAtG
— Mohlanka wa Morena (@_DJCappuccino) July 13, 2021
Dankie SANDF ✊✊✊#GautengShutdown pic.twitter.com/BC6PB0ZxPA
— Ndou (@ntanganation2) July 13, 2021
SA shutdown: What’s the latest?
Zuma’s bid to have his contempt charge rescinded has been delayed after the Constitutional Court reserved its judgment on Monday.
The former president remains imprisoned at the Estcourt correctional facility and it seems, until he’s been released, the unrest in KZN and Gauteng will continue.
The N3 highway that runs between Cedara in KZN and Heidelberg in Gauteng has been completely closed off due to fears of unrest as motorists have become a target.
During a televised media briefing held on Tuesday, KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala confirmed that 26 people have died in the province since the start of the riots. Most of these deaths, Zikalala added, occurred during the stampedes of the looting.
Moreover, a total of 757 suspects linked to the public violence have been arrested in the two provinces, 304 in KZN and 453 in Gauteng.
While things look like they may get worse, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has asserted that there is no need to declare a state of emergency just yet.