Thursday, June 23, 2016

Rioting in South Africa's capital city...something familiar here?



In pictures: Pretoria burns amid SA mayoral protests

  • 22 June 2016
    •  
  • From the section Africa
A torched truck near Pretoria, South AfricaImage copyrightAFP
Pictures of violent protests near South Africa's capital, Pretoria, prompted by anger at the ANC's choice of a mayoral candidate. 
A torched truck near Pretoria, South AfricaImage copyrightAP
Image captionSouth Africa's capital, Pretoria, remains tense after clashes saw residents in townships around the city torching vehicles and looting.
Aerial view of burnt-out buses near Pretoria, South AfricaImage copyrightEYEWITNESS NEWS
Image captionThe protests began in anger at the governing African National Congress's choice of a mayoral candidate for Tshwane, the metropolitan area which includes Pretoria.
Media captionSome protesters sang anti-apartheid struggle songs. The crowd assured journalists that they would be safe, after some had received threats while trying to cover the unrest.
Someone trying to put out a burning shack near Pretoria, South AfricaImage copyrightAP
Image captionOver the weekend, ex-cabinet minister Thoko Didiza, who is from KwaZulu-Natal, was chosen to stand for Tshwane's mayor in local elections in August.
Someone trying to put out a burning shack near Pretoria, South AfricaImage copyrightAFP
Image captionSome ANC members in the city feel the current mayor Kgosientsho Ramokgopa was pushed aside in the nomination process.
People looting a shop near Pretoria, South AfricaImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionLooting of township shops also spread during the protests on Tuesday.
Media captionThe BBC's Nomsa Maseko took this footage of people ransacking one small grocery store.
People stealing a fridge near Pretoria, South AfricaImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionPeople made away with the stock - and even fridges.
A burnt-out bus near Pretoria, South AfricaImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionAbout 20 buses were reportedly torched. Zimbabwean papers say that more than 20 Zimbabweans travelling to Johannesburg were caught up in the trouble on Tuesday when their bus was stopped and they were robbed.
A grocery shop that was set alight near Pretoria, South AfricaImage copyrightEYEWITNESS NEWS
Image captionLooters set alight this grocery shop overnight. Foreign-owned shops are often a target in such violence - and some foreign shop owners told EyeWitness News they feared for their lives.
A shop with nothing on the shelves near Pretoria, South AfricaImage copyrightAFP
Image captionBy Wednesday morning, many shops had been cleared out. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned the violence and its ethnic undertones.
Police outside a shop near Pretoria, South AfricaImage copyrightEYEWITNESS NEWS
Image captionPolice were escorting foreign shop owners away from some areas on Wednesday, saying they were not safe, EyeWitness news reports.
Photographs courtesy AFP, AP, Eyewitness News and Reuters
at

No comments:

Post a Comment