President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the violence playing out in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng provinces over former president Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment for contempt of court, saying that he would “not tolerate any form of criminality.”
For four days trucks have been set alight, shops looted and many roads blocked in the two provinces since Zuma’s incarceration last week.
“Property has been destroyed, cars stolen, people intimidated and hurt, and some have died,” the president said.
He added: “These acts are damaging the lives of people and damaging our efforts to rebuild the economy.”
He said the government would not sit back and watch while “there are those people that are hurt and angry.”
“There can never be any justification to embark on violence and destructive actions that negatively affect the rights of others,” he said.
According to him, “this must be condemned by South Africans at all costs.”
Meanwhile, lawyer Dali Mpofu has gone back to the Constitutional Court to argue for Zuma’s freedom from prison.
“Zuma was never on trial. His case therefore was an error by the Constitutional Court and this should be rescinded,” Mpofu said.
The Helen Suzman Foundation, arguing as a friend of the court, said Zuma was given a chance to argue his case but he refused to do so – instead, he preferred to leave it in the hands of the court.
NM/jn/APA