Death Toll in South African Protests Rises to Five

Reuters, 23/06 17:38 CET

By Dinky Mkhize

PRETORIA (Reuters) – The death toll from street violence in South Africa’s capital has risen to five, police said on Thursday, after two more bodies were found following clashes triggered by the ruling party’s choice of a mayoral candidate for a local vote.

Police said they also arrested about 200 rioters who attacked foreign-own shops in Pretoria as public anger mounted over economic hardship in the build-up to an Aug. 3 election likely to become a referendum on President Jacob Zuma’s rule.

Colonel Noxolo Kweza, police spokeswoman for Gauteng Province, said those arrested would be charged with violence, possession of unlicensed firearms and damage to property.

Disturbances flared on Monday night when residents of Pretoria’s impoverished townships began setting cars and buses alight after the ruling African National Congress (ANC) named a candidate in the Tshwane municipality where the capital city is located, disregarding the choice of regional branches.

The ANC leadership named senior party member and former cabinet minister Thoko Didiza as its candidate for Tshwane, overriding regional branch members and refusing to back down as the violence mounted.

The protests morphed into looting of shops in the past three night and shells of burned-out cars still blocked some roads.

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Source: euronews.