President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned South Africans who have been rioting, looting and destroying properties to protest the jailing of his predecessor, Jacob Zuma to desist or risk the full wrath of the law.
In a special broadcast from his office at Tuynhuys, Cape Town, Ramaphosa revealed that 10 people have died in the riots, while four SAP members have been injured.
“At this hour, there are several families in our country that are in mourning.
“I speak of the families of Nkosikhona Chiza, Ndumiso Shezi, Khaya Mkhize, Zethembe Ndwandwe, Lindani Bhengu and Lindokuhle Gumede in Gauteng.
“I speak of the families of Bhekani Ndlovu, Themba Mthembu, Aphiwe Gama and Cebo Dlamini in KwaZulu-Natal”.
He also gave generous mention of the policemen who have been injured.
“We extend our best wishes for a speedy recovery to the four SAPS members injured during this violence: Constable Sangweni, who was shot and injured in Alexandra; his two colleagues, Sergeant Maraheni and Lieutenant Colonel Nefolovhodwe, who were hit with bricks; and Constable Seloane, who was shot and injured in Daveyton”, he said.
In the broadcast, Ramaphosa did not for once mention Zuma.
But his address was targeted at Zuma’s aggrieved supporters who felt Zuma was too big for jail.
Ramaphosa appealed to their sense of reasoning, about the inviolability of the constitution, whether one is rich or the poor.
He rebuked those who have hugged violence to oppose the sanction against Zuma.
“What we are witnessing now are opportunistic acts of criminality, with groups of people instigating chaos merely as a cover for looting and theft.
“There is no grievance, nor any political cause, that can justify the violence and destruction that we have seen in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng”.
“Our Constitution guarantees the right of every person to protest, to organise, to engage in free expression and free association.
“It gives every person an equal right to protection before the law, and confers on every person a responsibility to respect and uphold the rights of others.
“Our Constitution is the foundation of the rule of law in our country.
“It is this rule of law that guards against the abuse of power, that protects the poor and the vulnerable, that enables our society to function and our economy to develop”.
Ramaphosa however warned that his government was prepared to protect every person in the country.
