Most shops, businesses, shopping complexes and a mall in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, have closed amid the looting and vandalism that have hit KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Many Hammanskraal residents have refused to loot their local shops. Political bodies, such as SANCO and the ANC Youth League, have also come out against looting.
The residents say they would not resort to violence to demonstrate their frustrations.
“I was here to come and get the money for the burial, now I can’t get in there and get my money. Government must stop this hooligan people, they must stop it, Zuma must go,” says one resident.
“Don’t worry about what happened, Zuma’s time is over, but now people are fighting, because they don’t think for themselves. Sometimes if you don’t think for yourself you will have a problem,” says another resident.
Cost of looting to businesses and economy:
Stand against anarchy
Some Free State residents have also taken a stance against the looting.
Civic movement in the province, the Mangaung Concerned Community, says it will not allow anarchy and chaos in its area. Community leader Themba Zweni has called on residents to defend the city from lawlessness.
“As Mangaung Concerned Community, we will not support any pro Zuma or Magashule lawlessness campaign. As Mangaung residents we have never benefitted from that regime. The only thing that we know is potholes, sewage that’s running on our streets and unauthorized expenditure. We’ll not be able to support people who mismanage our finances and ran our council down. This city is in tatters because of those very same people,” says Zweni.
Zweni says they call on president Cyril Ramaphosa to stand firm in defending the Constitution and the rule of law and to also intervene, with immediate effect, in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipal and get rid of the riots there.
“Our people deserve better and a well governed Mangaung will ensure better live for all,” says Zweni.
Unpacking the violence and looting in Gauteng and KZN with Prof Lauren Graham:
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