The Witness FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2021 R9,20 (incl vat) Hartley chasing Grow a spine, Rapture on a new Olympics Mr President lonely shore target PAGE 4 PAGE 5 PAGE 10 ‘THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR Five men found BLAMING AND dead after looting FINGER-POINTING’ — PREMIER ZIKALALA stampede at Makro CLIVE NDOU SHARIKA REGCHAND The Premier of KwaZulu-Natal has apolo- and SIYAMTANDA CAPA gised for thumping a looter. The incident was captured on a video Five men have been found dead in the vicinity of Makro on which was shared on social media Premier Barnsley Road in Camps Drift, Pietermaritzburg since Wednes- Sihle Zikalala, dressed in a suit, thumping a day. This follows the looting of Makro and the looting and man, described as a looter. setting on fire of the adjacent China Mall during the week. In a statement he said the video ema- A source told The Witness that first two bodies were found nated from an incident that took place on Wednesday. while he and his delegation were visiting “A short while later, another two bodies were found.” the worst affected areas in KZN “as part of The fifth body was found yesterday morning. assessing the damage on the ground to Other businesses there which were affected by the looting bring an end to the wanton looting”. includes a tractor dealership, a panels shop and an office equip- “The Premier apologises unequivocally ment company had also been affected. about the incident. The Premier regrets the The SASKO bakery was spared after a supervisor there plead- level of force used in apprehending a looter, ed with the crowd to take the bread and go. who was attempting to make off with The source said that it is believed the five men were killed goods that had been stolen from a nearby during the stampedes that had taken place during the week. warehouse. This happened as the looters were fleeing the area with all “While the action of apprehending a re- they could carry. sisting looter is justified, the manner in NatJOINTS police spokesperson, Colonel Brenda Muridili, which this was done is deeply regretted. would not comment on the deaths. “The Premier apologises for this incident. She said, “We are not commenting on individual incidents.” The Premier believes that public violence Yesterday, a department of health forensic pathology truck has no place in society and in the same drove up and down the littered road picking up the bodies. spirit those who commit acts of destruc- A family was present to identify their relative. tion do not share in the values of our na- They refused to be interviewed or have their pictures taken. tion. Paramedics also worked on a man who was injured and ap- He called on “all the people of KwaZulu- peared to be immobile. Natal to stand united in our diversity and A security guard at the SAB depot, who asked to remain begin our rebuilding programme”. unnamed, said when he arrived on Wednesday night and the Meanwhile, addressing members of the looters had broken into the premises and helped themselves KZN Legislature during a virtual sitting, Zik- to the liquor. Yesterday the front of the business was drowning alala said it was critical for citizens to lend in litter from alcoholic beverage bottles and plastic. The clean- support to the fight against “criminal ele- up of the area had however started. ments”. “This is not the time for blaming and finger-pointing. Let’s work together and support each other to deal with the situa- ‘My life was destroyed in 30 minutes’ tion,” he said Death toll in KZN While police had been blamed for the Businessman Sabelo Villakazi broke down yesterday as he told of how he lost three of his businesses when looters attacked the Greater slow response to the riots, which left sever- Edendale Mall this week. Read the full story on page 3. PHOTO: NASH NARRANDES al malls, warehouses and other businesses unrest climbs to 91 in ruins, Zikalala said security around key towns such as Pietermaritzburg and Durban CLIVE NDOU was being beefed up. “We are also encouraged by the deploy- The ongoing unrest has claimed 91 lives in KwaZulu-Natal. ment of additional 25 000 members of the This is a massive increase from the 26 reported by KZN SA National Defence Force (SANDF) in KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala three days ago. and the Gauteng province,” he said. The latest death toll was revealed by the acting minister More than 1 000 of the looters have so in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, during a media far been arrested while more than 30 peo- Bid to torch city briefing yesterday. She said the situation in KZN remained ple have died during stampedes caused by of major concern, with 39 incidents of looting and vandal- the looting. Preliminary assessments indi- ism reported in the province in the last 24 hours. cated that the extent of the damage to Ntshavheni was updating reporters on the unrest situa- the infrastructure and looting was worth tion as concerns mount that the violence has pitted race more than R3 billion. groups against each other in the province. Opposition parties in the legislature criti- The government, Ntshavheni said, was concerned about cised the way Zikalala and the government communities setting up roadblocks in a bid to prevent cer- handled the violent protests. tain groups from entering their communities. DA provincial leader, Francois Rodgers, landfill site foiled While Nthavheni said community members have the right said Zikalala failed to lead from the front. to take whatever measures were necessary to protect “The Premier has failed the people of themselves, she emphasised that such measures should not KZN. His legacy will forever remain as the “infringe on the rights of others”. Premier who stood in the shadows, watch- Attack on New England Road site was meant to trigger unrest The violent protesters, who in the wake of their looting ing KZN and our economy be destroyed spree destroyed several malls and warehouses across KZN, while putting ANC factionalism ahead of have claimed that they were demonstrating against the im- the people of KZN. SIYAMTANDA CAPA alight. Other shopping centres, major re- “The other areas that were targeted were identified as having been affected by van- prisonment of former president Jacob Zuma, “The Premier must be held accountable. tailers and shops have also been hit by loot- substations and reservoirs,” said Thebolla. dalism, allegedly by protesters. However, with the government adopting a tough stance More importantly, he must take responsibili- In a shocking revelation, a Msunduzi mu- ers during the course of the week. Earlier this week The Witness put ques- “The threats of vandalism to water and against the rioters, Ntshavheni said the looting and vandal- ty for his complete and utter failure to lead. nicipal official has revealed that an attempt Mathe made the revelation during a spe- tions to Msunduzi mayor Mzimkhulu The- sanitation infrastructure should be taken ism was no longer being viewed as ordinary protests. “This means doing the right thing and was made to burn the City’s landfill site cial meeting of the executive committee bolla about threats to infrastructure and very seriously.” “It’s economic sabotage,” she said. stepping down with immediate effect so at the weekend. yesterday. Thebolla insisted the City’s assets were at He warned that if there was sabotage, As yesterday, the number of people arrested in connec- that KZN can appoint an effective and Community services general manager “The team managed to respond as risk but were guarded. given the state of deterioration of the city’s tion with the looting and vandalism in KZN stood at 1 470. credible Premier and leader — not one who Mbongeni Mathe told the Executive Com- quickly as possible. Otherwise, the launch- Thebolla said he did not want to seem assets, this “would be catastrophic”. • [email protected] serves his own political agenda,” he said. mittee (Exco) that the torching of the New ing pad of these shenanigans that are tak- as though he was encouraging the target- The concerns raised by officials were IFP president, Velenkosini Hlabisa, said England Road landfill site was meant to ing place in other parts of the country and ing of municipal infrastructure. echoed by administrator Scelo Duma and government leaders turned the other way be the launching pad for the unrest in Piet- in our city was planned to be our landfill “We have 24-hour security there. We are opposition councillors. when people of KZN were under attack. ermaritzburg. site. But that plan failed,” said Mathe. certain that nothing is going to happen. Duma advised the City to be vigilant. Refuse collection “Capable leaders demonstrate themselves But before the fire, which had been start- Msunduzi mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla If anything happens it would be a natural “We should keep our ears on the ground when confronted by challenges. Whenever ed outside, could spread, an Msunduzi Mu- said the City was quick to respond to the fire,” said Thebolla. and boost our security if it is being said challenges occur in South Africa, our gov- nicipality fire truck rushed to the scene to fire. “According to what we saw they start- Senior manager in the infrastructure de- on social media that if the Constitutional back to normal on ernment is found wanting. The Covid-19 extinguish the fire. ed the fire just outside. But because we had partment Vusumuzi Cele revealed there Court rules against the former president pandemic exposed the ruling party badly. On Monday, the country woke up to heard of this plan we were there on time had been a threat to electricity infrastruc- (Jacob Zuma) we could see an even worse Monday “Corruption over PPE’s remains a shame news that Brookside Mall and the Greater and they couldn’t go in.