Nineteen arrested in Durban as looted shops burn and the MTN8 final kicks off anyway
Police say the crowd that torched buildings and emptied stores in the CBD was not all part of the anti-illegal-immigration march, and that the cup final at Moses Mabhida went ahead under a security plan laid down long before the unrest.
More than 19 people have been arrested in KwaZulu-Natal after two days of looting and arson in central Durban, and the MTN8 final between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates went ahead at Moses Mabhida Stadium as planned.
Police say the arrests were made across different parts of the province and different parts of Durban, and that the count is still being consolidated. Colonel Robert Ntunda, the South African Police Service spokesperson in KwaZulu-Natal, told SABC News that most of those taken into custody are students, which he said matched what officers saw on the ground, where many of those involved were young people.
The charges at this stage relate to violence in a public place and to the destruction of property. Ntunda said investigators have not ruled out laying further charges against those arrested.
The damage was not confined to one kind of business. Asked whether the shops that were emptied the previous day belonged to foreign nationals, Ntunda said the conduct amounted to general criminality, because both foreign-owned and South African-owned shops were hit.
Among them was a salon and laundromat in the Berea area run by a South African woman. Ntunda said she told police she had built three businesses under difficult circumstances and employs 22 people. Her premises were among those looted.
The unrest took place against a backdrop of tension over asylum applications, which has been running since a Constitutional Court judgment widened the route into the asylum system. The march itself was organised by a lobby group campaigning against illegal immigration.
Ntunda said the organisers appeared to have been overwhelmed by their own crowd. As marchers moved along Point Road and Pixley kaSeme Street, more people joined who were not part of the lobby group, and the organisers could not control either the numbers or what those people did. Buildings in the area were set alight during that period.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli has asked for the South African National Defence Force to be sent in to help restore order. Police remain on high alert after reports of further marches being planned.
Not every disruption in the province this week belonged to this march. Ntunda said burning tyres on the N2 near Umlazi were linked to a separate service delivery protest, and that a similar road blockade in Lunfield also concerned service delivery.
He said the pattern police face in the province is that crowds organise themselves without notifying the SAPS in advance, which leaves officers reacting to events rather than preparing for them. Ntunda said the service has intelligence officers in place to try to get ahead of planned action and puts officers on the ground where trouble is expected.
On the question that had been circulating on social media, he was unambiguous. The match was not called off. He said the fixture had been arranged in line with the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act, with routes, transport, traffic and security planned well in advance. None of the unrest happened near the stadium, he said, because the planning covered the venue, the surrounding area and the railway lines used by players and officials.
Supporters of both clubs were told they could attend, and the final was played in the secure environment the pre-match plan had set up.
The Enquirer is following the police’s consolidation of the arrest figures and the charges brought against those in custody.
Source: SABC News, MTN8 Final | Update with SAPS after Durban violence
