SA violence: Govt was poorly prepared, says Ramaphosa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said his government was poorly prepared for the orchestrated violence witnessed by the country, but underlined that the “attempted insurrection has failed because of citizens’ support.

Protests sparked on July 7 after the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma and rapidly devolved into unprecedented massive looting and arson across the country. As this government, we must acknowledge that we were poorly prepared for an orchestrated campaign of public violence, destruction and sabotage of this nature, Ramaphosa said in a national address on Friday night.

Yet, despite the widespread destruction, this attempted insurrection has failed to gain popular support. It has failed because of the efforts of our security forces, and it has failed because South Africans have rejected it and have stood up in defence of our hard-won democracy, he said.

Relative calm returned to KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces on Friday after a week of rampant violence, looting and arson that has left over 200 people dead, hundreds of businesses razed to the ground, and billions of rands looted from stores by thousands of people.

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