Durban – Video footage has emerged early on Friday morning showing scores of residents in the Durban central business district attempting to loot a shop amid rising fears of a national shutdown due to the fuel price increases.
The footage was posted by Independent Media’s senior journalist, Sihle Mavuso, in the early hours of Friday morning. A second video posted by Mavuso alleging looting was removed by him from his Twitter account when it emerged that it could have been an old video.
Police, after enquiring on Friday morning told IOL on Monday that there were no incidents of looting in the Durban CBD.
In one of the videos, which has about 60% visibility, a loud banging or shooting noise can be heard over screams. It is believed people were trying to enter a shop to loot it.
BREAKING NEWS: The national shutdown over fuel hikes in Durban has started on a bad note. Some residents of the city are looting shops and stalls within the CBD. Alert police have to fire teargas and stun grenades when there was an attempt to loot some shops. @DailyNewsSA pic.twitter.com/o7o63Ah8Km
According to Mavuso’s Tweets, police used teargas and stun grenades to disperse the looters and were able to bring the situation under control.
There were no indications early on Friday that the attempted looting was wide-spread. Indications were that the attempted looting in the city were carried out by opportunists and was possibly not related to the national shutdown.
The situation on Friday was was calm in Durban and many taxis and buses were operating as normal.
Police and security clusters in KwaZulu-Natal remain on high alert since messages calling for a national shutdown over the rising fuel prices have been circulating social media since the start of the week.
The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structures (Natjoints) said yesterday they were aware of the situation and have put measures in place in each province to prevent any forms of criminality.
“Those behind these messages are warned and reminded that prohibiting people’s freedom of movement is a criminal offence. Members of the public are therefore cautioned against spreading such messages that seek to mobilise communities to respond to the shutdown.
“The respective Provjoints have been directed to ensure multidisciplinary deployments and that the necessary contingency plans are in place. The Natjoints assures members of the public that enforcement of the law will be executed within relevant prescripts to ensure stability in the country,” Natjoints said.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) in KZN said they will be refraining from any strikes and will continue with business as usual.
KZN provincial officer manager for Santaco Sifiso Shangase told IOL that taxi owners have lost enough already due to the high petrol prices.
“From our side, it is going to be business as usual. Our minibus taxis are going to be on the road.
“In terms of protecting our assets and our commuters, we have measures in place to protect them,” Shangase said.
With the most recent petrol price increase to R23.52 a litre and marking the highest petrol price in the last 10 years, residents across the country have felt the financial crunch.
The escalating prices is due to the ongoing conflict between Russian and Ukraine, which has also seen grain prices shoot up in the past year.
This story was updated to reflect that no looting took place in the Durban CBD on Friday. IOL had, in good faith, used the information from a trusted journalist in our stable who later deleted a disputed video. We made attempts to get official police comment on Friday without success. The error is regretted.
IOL