KZN unrest: 153 arrested as police move to contain looting and violence

Police arrested 153 people in KwaZulu-Natal as part of operations to stabilise areas affected by looting and public violence during protests on June 30. The arrests were among more than 900 made nationally as law enforcement moved to contain opportunistic criminal activity linked to marches and demonstrations.

Overview of national response

Deputy National Commissioner for Policing and NATJOINTS chairperson Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili provided a situational update on the operational response to both peaceful protests and isolated criminal acts. She said law enforcement officers worked through the night to restore order and identified opportunistic criminal elements.

Mosikili said reinforcements were deployed to Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and the Western Cape in response to isolated incidents of looting and criminality. She said the affected areas were stabilised and remained under constant monitoring.

“Overnight, reinforcements were deployed to various parts of Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and the Western Cape in response to isolated incidents of looting and criminality,”

As of Wednesday morning Mosikili said a total of 120 marches occurred nationally. Of those, 108 were peaceful while 12 required law enforcement intervention due to incidents of unrest. In KwaZulu-Natal she said 21 marches were peaceful and two resulted in unrest.

Arrests and alleged offences

Mosikili said the nationwide arrest total from Tuesday’s operations exceeded 900 people. She said the majority arrested were illegal foreigners and that arrests related to looting, public violence, harbouring illegal immigrants and business robbery at spaza shops.

Specifically in KwaZulu-Natal, Mosikili reported 153 arrests for offences including looting, public violence and contravention of the Immigration Act.

Incidents and local arrests in KZN

KZN police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda detailed several local arrests linked to break‑ins and robberies.

• At Woody Glen in the Mpumalanga township of Hammersdale, five suspects were arrested after a group broke into container tuck shops on Embuthweni Main Road at Unit 4. One suspect was arrested inside a tuck shop and four were cornered and arrested while attempting to flee. The suspects were aged between 14 and 27 years old and will be charged with malicious damage to property and business burglary.
• In a separate set of incidents, five others were arrested for breaking into tuck shops owned by foreign nationals and stealing items. Private security officers apprehended three suspects who were handed to police. Two more suspects were arrested at Madiba informal settlement in Mountain Rise.
• The fifth suspect in that group was arrested at Thubalethu township in Melmoth and is alleged to have entered a homestead, threatened foreign nationals with a stick and stolen their belongings; that person will face a charge of house robbery.

Assault and intimidation arrests

Colonel Netshiunda also said a woman was arrested and charged with assault on police officers and intimidation after police intervened at Burnwood Kwalimaza informal settlement in Sydenham, where reports said a foreign national was being assaulted by a group. Another man was arrested for intimidation in the same incident. Netshiunda said the arrested suspects will appear in court.

Plans for continued monitoring

Mosikili said most demonstrations remained peaceful but that some individuals had sought to exploit events to commit criminal acts. She noted that March and March have publicly announced that they will continue marches for the next six months and said police would continue to monitor demonstrations and support those exercising their constitutional rights under Section 16 and Section 17.