South Africa has been plagued by violence for decades

South African military is struggling to stem the tide of unrest, as the number has risen to 26 following a series of violent incidents that President Cyril Ramaphosa has described as “unusual”. [been] we have already seen it in the history of our democracy ”.

The cause of the violence was last week’s arrest of former president Jacob Zuma for contempt of court for refusing to attend a nine-year corruption trial.

Zuma, who is still aided by the ruling African National Congress and his hometown of KwaZulu Natal, has denied the allegations and said the allegations were politically motivated.

South Africa’s spy agency is investigating whether his former accomplices staged a riot in KwaZulu-Natal in response to Zuma’s allegiance, Ayanda Dlodlo, the country’s security minister, said on Tuesday. Zuma’s leading business family denied this week that it was the cause of the unrest. The province is the seat of the former president and has been the center of political violence for some time.

While experts point out that the violence may have been perpetrated by Zuma’s supporters, youth unemployment and the economic crisis from the epidemic have also contributed to the riots. Violence that started in KwaZulu Natal has spread to Gauteng, the economic capital of Johannesburg.

Sihle Zikalala, the KwaZulu-Natal Prime Minister, said on Tuesday that 26 people had been confirmed dead. Lines formed outside a few shopping malls opened after Durban, the province’s largest city. The N3 highway from Durban to Johannesburg, the main economic route for South Africa and the region, was closed again on Tuesday.

On Monday Ramaphosa ordered the deployment of up to 2,500 troops to assist police and said South Africans were “concerned and apprehensive” over the deterioration of development. “This is not what we as South Africans are. We are not, ”he said in a televised address on Monday.

But there was no sign of a second Tuesday that militants were promised on the streets and the government is facing strong opposition in South Africa over its alarming response to police. “Things were allowed to get to this point because our law enforcement agencies failed to move things quickly and carry out their duties,” said John Steenhuisen, leader of the Democratic Alliance.

Unemployment in South Africa and the post-apartheid economic divide have led to more violence, which has been exacerbated by the epidemic that has forced many to live in extreme poverty. Less vaccinations have begun to stall because hospitals have been forced to close their doors. Ordinary unemployment was about 33% in the first three months of this year.

A South African television station had pictures of looters fleeing from a police car while police were watching. “This moment has brought a great deal of relief from what we already know: that the high unemployment rate, poverty and inequality in our country are unreliable,” Ramaphosa said. Speaking late Monday, South African TV had a divided image of criminals breaking into a blood bank.