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Demonstrators wearing looted shops and roadblocks are being jailed across Johannesburg for the imprisonment of the former South African president.
Violent clashes have erupted in the two provinces of South Africa after the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma, with supporters blocking roads and shoplifting.
At least 62 people have been arrested, South African police said on Sunday.
Zuma began to serve a 15-month sentence last week for contempt of court. The 79-year-old former president was jailed for challenging a court order to testify before a state-sponsored investigation examining allegations of corruption during his time as president from 2009 to 2018.
He made an offer to be fired from the Estcourt Correction Center discarded a regional court on Friday. He plans to make another attempt on Monday with the Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court.
Incidents of Zuma supporters began last week in its region of KwaZulu-Natal province and over the weekend it spread to Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa.
Police had been arrested by a demonstrator, Jacob Zuma jailed by former President of South Africa and increasingly violent [Sumaya Hisham/Reuters]
Several hundred people robbed and burned shops in Johannesburg’s Alexandra and Bramley neighborhoods, according to a document issued by Chief of Police General Mathapelo Peters.
The body of a 40-year-old man was recovered from a shop where he was burned and police are investigating the circumstances, he said.
In addition, at least three police officers were injured while trying to arrest the robbers and one was admitted to hospital, the statement said.
The AFP news agency said the N3 motorway linking Johannesburg and the coastal city of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal has been blocked for hours, including south of the Estcourt prison where Zuma is being held.
President Cyril Ramaphosa called for calm on Sunday in a speech focused on the COVID-19 cuts, urging people to express their “peaceful protest” and prevent actions that endanger lives and harm the economy.
“People have been scared and threatened, and some have even been injured,” Ramaphosa said, adding that “some people could be killed.”
But looting continued on Sunday afternoon around Durban.
Police said power is growing in both provinces and warned Zuma supporters against inciting violence on social media, saying they could become responsible for criminal charges.
The shops will be closed on Monday in Kwa-Zulu Natal and Gauteng to prevent looting, neighborhood associations said.
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