‘It’s a War Zone’: South African Army Activates All Reserve Members Amid Widespread Looting

Stick-wielding rioters and looters march through the streets in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 11, 2021. Sumaya Hisham/Reuters

The South African government has activated all army reserves and will deploy up to 25,000 troops to quell deadly civil unrest, looting, and rioting across the country.

The country’s defense minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, told Parliament she had “now submitted a request for deployment of about 25,000 members” to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, according to local media.

Vehicles and helicopters will also be deployed across the country, the minister said.

“We believe that visibility should not just be visibility of warm bodies, it should be visibility of vehicles, helicopters, so that is what we’re trying to do,” Mapisa-Nqakula told Parliament.

The deployment comes as increases in looting have been reported on July 14 and July 15.

Media photographers saw hundreds of people raiding a warehouse in Durban, South Africa, belonging to the retailer Game, which sells items such as groceries and home appliances. People looted the building, with some driving off with stolen goods in pick-up trucks with covered plate numbers, according to Reuters.

Vandals also trashed a Makro supermarket and shops in the center of Durban. Police were overwhelmed and unable to control the rioters, Reuters reported. Rioters also set fire to a chemical plant close to Umhlanga, a town north of Durban, emergency services said.

A member of the South African Police Services searches for looters inside the Gold Spot Shopping Center in Vosloorus, southeast of Johannesburg, on July 12, 2021. Guillem Sartorio/AFP via Getty Images

A South Africa Police Service officer tries to disperse rioters looting a liquor shop at the Jabulani Mall in the Soweto district of Johannesburg on July 12, 2021. Luca Sola/AFP via Getty Images

“It is a war zone ... towns deserted, shops looted, bodies lying on the road,” John Steenhuisen, leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance, told Financial Times of the situation on the ground. “We have an internal African National Congress battle that has spilled over onto the streets of KwaZulu-Natal ... the initiative has been completely lost by the security services. They need urgent reinforcement.”