A year after devastating riots killed over 300 people and left US$2 billion in damages in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, the Durban Chamber of Commerce said on Friday that the civil unrest has not been helpful to attracting investors into the region.
The rioting and looting were triggered by the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma to serve 15 months in jail after he defied a court order to appear before a panel that was investigating corruption allegations during his tenure of office.
Dozens of businesses were forced to close after days of widespread vandalism in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng province, chamber chief executive Palesa Phiri said, adding that several investors were still reluctant to come to the province.
Phiri said some businesses had made the difficult decision not to re-open for work in the province.
“The unrest caused immense damage to the province of KwaZulu-Natal and Durban, more specifically, because we were a hotspot for investment,” Phiri said.
She added: “There was a financial damage but, over and above that, the worst part is the reputational damage of ensuring that the businesses trust that their investment is safe in the province.”
The official said it has been “an uphill battle” to get investors to come to the province, “given what happened with the unrest”.
“We do have quite a lot of companies that decided to just pack and leave. Even medium businesses, that were hiring here in our province, have left. They have gone to different provinces in the country,” the chief executive said.
The unrest has severely crippled the economy and caused food shortages and affected major services.
NM/jn/APA