President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that criminal elements must be met with the full might of the law. The Presidency has endorsed the call by the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal Sihle Zikalala for calm and commended police efforts to quell the violence that is gripping the province.
Violence concentrated on the N3, N2 and M7 and other key roads are linked to protests around the incarceration of former President Jacob Zuma.
Latest with reporter Jayed-Leigh Paulse on the N3 protests:
Scores of trucks have been set alight, roads closed and shops looted in Mooi River, with incidences in Empangeni, Escourt, Mthubathuba and KwaDukuza.
Acting spokesperson in the Presidency Tyrone Seale says,” President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on communities in KwaZulu-Natal to desist from undermining the rule of law and inflicting damage on the economy. President Ramaphosa says the impact of public violence against the road freight industry and damage to freeways that serve as economic arteries will be felt also by the people organising and committing these crimes. The President says the reasons allegedly advanced for the violence in KwaZulu-Natal cannot be used to legitimise vandalism and public violence. The Constitution protects the right to protest but protest cannot be abused to break the law or to destroy property and threaten livelihoods.”
ANC to take action against members behind protests
The African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) says action will be taken against those members who have been involved in activities that have destabilised the province.
ANC KZN Spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela says there are many members of the party who have been involved in these activities.
“The report we get will determine who are the individuals who might have done something wrong and what will be the way forward from there. We can’t pre-empt that report until we get that report with the detailed issues. Only then we’ll be able to determine as a province how do we navigate that situation as we move forward,” says Ntombela.
The Mooi River Toll Plaza on the N3 in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Midlands remains closed. It is now believed that more than twenty trucks were burnt by protesters on Friday night.
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