The looters arrested by the South African police


The death toll soared to 45 in South Africa as riots and looting continued on the 13th local time for a fifth day.



According to local news channels eNCA Broadcasting and Bloomberg News, 26 people were killed in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal, where the major unrest occurred, and 19 people were killed in the metropolitan Houteng province.



Governor David Makura of Hauteng said 10 of these were the result of crushing deaths amid crowds of looting, and KwaZulu-Natal is also known to have many similar cases.



In Durban, the port city of KwaZulu-Natal, even as of 3 pm on the same day, a large number of local residents gathered around the warehouse of the large distribution chain 'Game' located in the northern region and participated in the massive looting in real time.



In fact, it is reported that LG Electronics' Durban factory was burned down by mob looting and arson the day before, and Samsung Electronics' logistics warehouse in KwaZulu-Natal also suffered looting damage.



On the live screen of the day, not only minibuses around the Durban logistics warehouse, but also vehicles from residents from far and near to get their share, the wide road was filled with congestion, and people in the logistics warehouse area were constantly carrying goods in the air. was caught in



The broadcaster also reported that it was "totally lawless" in this regard.



The economic center of Johannesburg city center has recovered to a certain degree of calm unlike the day before, but looting of shopping centers continued on this day in black areas such as Alexandra outside Johannesburg.



However, Alexandra, who was called 'anarchy' due to unrest and looting, showed a lull in the afternoon after military forces were deployed to secure security.



Hundreds of shops have been looted in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Hauteng, with major highways blocked.



Police Minister Beheki Chele said that with 304 people arrested in KwaZulu-Natal and 453 people arrested in Hauteng, additional personnel have been dispatched to "hot spots" of the protests.



Vaccinations to prevent COVID-19 were also severely disrupted during the riot.



Vaccinations in KwaZulu-Natal have been suspended indefinitely until further notice, and some inoculation sites have reportedly been destroyed and looted.



In a safety notice posted on social media, the Korean embassy in South Africa urged people to refrain from going out, saying, "The government of the host country has begun to respond by sending troops into the country due to the spread of paralysis, riots, and looting in the KwaZulu-Natal region." I did.



As the violence escalated, the four major banks closed all branches in the area, and retail outlets and telecommunication companies also closed outlets.



The 'Mall of Africa', one of the largest shopping malls on the continent in Johannesburg, has also closed its business.



Pretoria, the administrative capital, is relatively less turbulent, but even at a shopping mall in Mamelodi, a black-populated area, looting has been taking place since the night of the 11th, and even an automated teller machine (ATM) was blown up to take out money. A Korean citizen who owns a store in .



The unrest started in KwaZulu-Natal, where he was born, and spread to the metropolitan area after former President Jacob Zuma, who was accused of corruption, was sentenced to 15 months in the Constitutional Court for contempt of court on the 8th.



National Security Minister Ayanda Delaudlaw said he was investigating allegations that former spies linked to former President Zuma were promoting violence.



However, it is analyzed that the background is that there is a sense of despair over the extreme hardship and the gap between the rich and the poor due to the lockdown that has been in place since March last year.



(Photo = Getty Images Korea)