South Africa 🇿🇦

[Hidehi4]

Has anyone seen what is happening in South Africa? Why isn’t this on the news around the world. They have trashed the country all because the ex president stole money and got sent to jail. There’s looting, freeing animals from the zoo, burning shops. Locals are having to protect their community without help from the police or army as the gangs are threatening to start on people’s home. They are now running out of food and they aren’t importing. Very sad time for South Africa and the innocent people. Has anyone heard or seen anything?

Oh crikey.

Only a little bit on the BBC website. Will go and have a search now.

I have seen this on a news website. Sounds very frightening.

@Hidehi4 my husbands family have now all left South Africa because of events such as this. They are devastated about the latest news, it's so underreported. Such a beautiful country but so, so troubled.

Yes, my friend lives there and is affected. I've spoken to her today. It sounds terrifying but at least in her area, things seem to be calming down now.

It’s awful. There is no help for them. They are threatening the sub stations and to damage the water supply. I don’t know why they would do something like that as they will be affected by this very soon as well.

I have a few SA friends - in England and SA and the videos they are sharing are absolutely devastating. It’s like a war zone out there 💔 My heart breaks for the whole country!!

I hope all your friends and family are safe. I don’t know how these poor people are coping 😢

It's not the whole country but some areas have been completely devastated in the past couple of days.

Shops and shopping centres looted and burned, and many people barricaded in their homes with no way to get out for food supplies etc.

No idea why this is not being covered more by international media.

My SA colleague sent me some Facebook videos. It’s carnage.

Perhaps long overdue is the wrong phrase but the crime and poverty in SA is so rife, I'm surprised this hasn't happened sooner. The coronavirus restrictions have also made the UK look competent and organised, they had several weeks of hard lockdown (think not leaving house without a permit and banning alcohol sales etc) to straight into unrestricted freedom and have wavered between the two since so it is not a surprise that the situation with Zuma is the straw that has broken the camel's back.

I’m glad everyone isn’t affected it just looked like the whole place has been destroyed. They are making their way to different places on different days. I can’t get my head around it. Hopefully there will be some help soon but I don’t know what it will take

There has been very little on the news about it. I have seen more from friends' who live there FB feeds. It all looks so scary. Hoping it comes to a conclusions soon.

Is this what the random thread was about earlier on that no one could understand? I’ve not seen anything but not looked at the news since lunchtime.

This is a consequence of populism and extreme inequality. Populist leader promises his supporters he'll make their lives so much better, when in reality his policies generate ever greater inequality. Sound familiar? Trump, Zuma, Bolsonaro, Johnson...

I haven’t seen that thread. It’s been going on days now. I was just shocked that it’s not really being covered by the news

There is another thread started by and contributed to be people living in or having family in SA.
Sadly it has been pretty much derailed by a poster with an agenda showing no sympathy whatsoever to anyone impacted by it (yes its the one who started the weird thread for those who have seen it).
I am shocked there hasn't been more in the news about it. Now food shortage is becoming a worry due to panic buying and shops being torched

I read it on news websites earlier. I've got colleagues in cape town whom I spoke with yesterday who didnt mention it at all which seems odd now.

Erm I thought it was on the news

Isn't there a tribal angle to this? Zuma is a Zulu, and his people think he should "get something out of being president".

I think Zuma was seen as quite different to the other ANC leaders. He spent something like 10 years without having a visitor at Robin island because family and friends were too poor to travel there, where as the other ANC leaders were much more middle class (in British terms). Not saying what is right or wrong, just saying he is outside the normal ANC to give you a bit of context.

The poor and dispossessed rise up. Understandable but sadly likely just to make things worse.

I am in SA and I just assumed it was in international news. There is another thread currently in active.

It's just horrific. Even a blood bank was looted and trashed. And we are in the peak of the 3rd wave.

I read about it in the Times and the FT today so it is being covered, perhaps overshadowed by the impending covid-related July 19th stuff, as has all news over the past 18 months.

Just praying for peace and that people stay safe there. The footage I have seen is terrible.

I saw it on AlJazeera, BBC, Daily Mail and on main news website in my native country. It's horrible.

As pp said it is overshadowed by events in the countries. It's overshadowed by certain news in my native one, here we have some issues too etc. But it's reported

Yes it has been more about the pandemic and I know it’s not affecting us. I don’t know much about the political side of South Africa it’s the poor innocent people and the likes of the children and babies who don’t have the basic supplies. But I guess it’s the kind of world we live in. I hope it comes to a end soon

Unfortunately this sort of thing isn’t new for SA. Doesn’t make it okay!