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Buildings that were looted then burnt during the 2021 looting and unrest in Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
ZUMAUNREST

Riots leave ugly scars as Richmond braces itself to go the polls

With many job losses caused by the looting and arson of July, the Midlands town faces an uncertain future

  • Paddy Harper
9 min read
The 2021 July riots were the most widespread, coordinated, and visible instance of looting in South Africa.
ZUMAUNREST

R1.5bn in funding approved for riot-hit businesses

Agencies emphasise that speed is crucial to rescuing firms affected by July’s unrest

  • Sarah Smit
2 min read
Despite last year’s riots, South Africa has been ranked 118 out of 163 countries in the 2022 Global Peace Index. Photo: Marco Longari/AFP
ZUMAUNREST

Post-riot township economy is uncertain, but established investors won’t leave easily

July’s violence and looting dealt a blow to business confidence

  • Sarah Smit
6 min read
Economists widely expect the South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee to once again hold the interest rate at 8.25% when it concludes its meeting on Thursday.
ZUMAUNREST

Despite inflation risks, the monetary policy committee keeps rates on hold

Inflation rose well beyond the Reserve Bank’s midpoint target in August

  • Sarah Smit
3 min read
KwaZulu-Natal residents in riot-affected areas such as Umlazi, southwest of Durban, now have to travel far to banks and shops after their local malls were looted or damaged. (Rogan Ward)
ZUMAUNREST

Looters remorseful as daily life gets tougher

Some residents in areas affected by the July riots have lost their livelihoods, have to travel far to get to the jobs that remain and walk long distances to unaffected shopping…

  • Chris Makhaye
6 min read
Stats SA noted in its GDP release that there was increased production reported for platinum group metals, which have experienced a massive uptick in demand amid the commodity cycle. (Oupa Nkosi/M&G)
ZUMAUNREST

GDP stats: Economy grows, but not enough to secure jobs and long-term recovery

GDP rose 1.2% in the second quarter, but future growth indicators will likely be hit by July’s looting and unrest, as well as a dip in commodity prices

  • Sarah Smit
3 min read
The MTBPS stresses that there are already 18.3 million citizens who receive one or another form of welfare grant. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
ZUMAUNREST

Basic income grant not on treasury’s watchlist — yet

Treasury officials will model the effect of the grant on the fiscus if the need arises

  • Sarah Smit
4 min read
Armed community members gather around a fire to keep warm at a road block set up in Phoenix Township, North Durban, on July 15, 2021 to prevent looters from reaching the community. (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP)
ZUMAUNREST

ANC member accused of instigating July unrest makes it to party’s candidate list

A branch in Johannesburg has raised concern about the inclusion of Mboneni Tabane on the list submitted to the Electoral Commission of South Africa.

  • Lizeka Tandwa
6 min read
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. Photo: Madelene Cronje
ZUMAUNREST

Godongwana ‘will be just fine’

The new finance minister has a difficult task, but analysts say his political capital will help him hold a hard line on state spending

  • Sarah Smit
8 min read
No new coal: Unemployed men such as Bonginkosi Mhlanga scrape a living from abandoned mine shafts. Analysts warn that commodity prices, which have over the years sometimes papered over South Africa’s economic woes, will not keep the country going forever. (Emmanuel Croset/AFP)
ZUMAUNREST

Commodities ‘bail out’ South African economy, but chronic structural woes remain

The mining industry is riding a wave that will eventually crash, analysts warn

  • Sarah Smit
8 min read
A woman carrying a baby walks past a soldier stationed in Alexandra near a mall that was looted. (Ihsaan Haffejee)
ZUMAUNREST

Long arm of the riots still affecting health sector

The tumult in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng has forced people to go without chronic medication and check-ups, caused shortages at the blood bank and disruptions in the vaccine roll out

  • Zandile Bangani
6 min read
Armed community members gather around a fire to keep warm at a road block set up in Phoenix Township, North Durban, on July 15, 2021 to prevent looters from reaching the community. (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP)
ZUMAUNREST

Phoenix killings: 22 suspects held

A total of 36 murder charges are being probed in the wake of vigilante attacks in the area during last month’s riots

  • Paddy Harper
2 min read
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images
ZUMAUNREST

Grocers reap tidy profits from liquor

Covid-19 bans on alcohol and the recent violence have exposed just how important booze sales are to retailers that once only filled trolleys with food

  • Sarah Smit
5 min read
Burden of grief: The late Njabulo Allen Dlamini, who was killed in Phoenix on 12 July, was finally buried on 21 July 2021. (Photo by Marco Longari/AFP)
ZUMAUNREST

Riots leave the dead unburied and the living at risk

Crematoriums, funeral parlours and cemeteries were forced to close, leaving the families of those who died during the unrest to live with their bodies.

  • Chris Makhaye
7 min read
Provincial government says it cannot deal with the magnitude of the damage to infrastructure alone. (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP)
ZUMAUNREST

State of disaster declared after bloody KwaZulu-Natal riots

Provincial government says it cannot deal with the magnitude of the damage to infrastructure alone

  • Paddy Harper
2 min read
Police Minister Bheki Cele and national police commissioner Khehla Sitole have insisted that harsh public scrutiny and unclear mandates are inhibiting the ability of law enforcement personnel to execute their duties. (Jaco Marais)
ZUMAUNREST

Cele and Sitole: Police are ‘handicapped’ by SA laws

In Parliament on Thursday, the police minister and national police commissioner lamented that officers had become hesitant to execute their duties

  • Luke Feltham
3 min read
The supreme court of appeal is yet to rule on the appeal to the high court finding that his release on medical parole was unlawful and he should return to prison. (Michele Spatari/POOL/AFP)
ZUMAUNREST

Zuma children call for his unconditional release

The Zuma family also urged people to continue to desist from destroying infrastructure, adding that it opposed the arrest of Ngizwe Mchunu

  • Lizeka Tandwa
3 min read
Mail & Gaurdian
REBUILDSOUTH AFRICA

Editorial: Unrest death count the highest in more than 180 years

We need a commission of inquiry to find the central characters in the tragic event that played out in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

  • Editorial
3 min read
Employers affected by the recent unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal will be able to apply for support through the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) as soon as next week. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
ZUMAUNREST

Companies affected by unrest can apply for support as soon as next week

Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi urges employers to be honest when applying for help

  • Eunice Masson
2 min read
Members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) inspect Jabulani Mall after last week?s looting and violent protests on July 21, 2021 in Soweto, South Africa. The violent protests spread from KwaZulu-Natal after the incarceration of the former President Jacob Zuma. (Photo by Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
ZUMAUNREST

Military not a magic bullet: South Africa needs to do more for long term peace

More than ever before, decisive leadership is needed from politicians, military leadership and civil society to march the South African National Defence Force in the right…

  • Lindy Heinecken
5 min read