Shops were looted overnight, a section of the M2 highway was closed and stick-wielding protesters marched against the jailing of former South African President Jacob Zuma.
Protesters thronged the streets of Johannesburg on Sunday, as sporadic acts of violence spread to the country’s main economic hub.
The unrest had mainly been concentrated in Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), where he started serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court on Wednesday night.
Zuma’s sentencing and subsequent imprisonment have been seen as a test of the post-apartheid nation’s ability to enforce the law fairly – even against powerful politicians – 27 years after the African National Congress (ANC) ousted the white minority rulers to usher in democracy.
But his incarceration has angered Zuma’s supporters and exposed rifts within the ANC.
Zuma was given the jail term for defying an order from the constitutional court to give evidence at an inquiry that is investigating high-level corruption during his nine years in power until 2018.
Zuma has challenged his sentence in the constitutional court, partly on the grounds of his alleged frail health and the risk of catching COVID-19.
Reuters
