Johannesburg – Business Unity South Africa has called for the implementation of a 24-hour curfew, full deployment of the army and police including reserve forces.
This is the group’s view on the only way to end the sporadic looting and violence errupting in parts of the country.
While the scale of looting has subsided on Thursday, certain parts of the counry was still being hit by looters and community members continued to take up arms to protect thier homes in their communities.
“The violence and damage to property that has overwhelmed parts of the country must be stopped immediately. The loss of life and destruction of property is devastating. We now face disruption to supply chains that are essential for the country’s basic functioning, including energy, food and supplies needed to fight the pandemic,” BUSA said in a statement.
“Critical transport networks are unable to function. Sapref, which supplies a third of the country’s fuel needs, has been shut down. The Durban port, that is critical to the export and import of goods has been closed with its cold stores severely affected. National key points that include manufacturing of chlorine for our water system and explosives for our mining industry are shut down and under threat of invasion. Water works have been damaged that are key to provincial water systems in KwaZulu Natal,” BUSA further stated.
Meanwhile, South African Police Minister, Bheki Cele, visited Phoenix in Durban earlier today.
Cele said racial tensions have characterised the unrest and the community’s efforts to protect their neighbourhood from looting.
“While the situation is not ideal at all and there are ugly scenes playing out on the streets of Phoenix, the racial direction that these unrests are taking must be arrested speedily,” he said.
The Ministry in the statement expressed concern at the mass business lootings in Mobeni, in the South of Durban, by hundreds of people from surrounding areas.
Cele witnessed first-hand how mobs risked their lives during crowd control dispersal measures by law enforcement on the ground.
“The Ministry is pleased that engagements with the private security industry have been escalated to improve coordination while managing the unrest,” read a statement issued by the police.
Cele expressed confidence that the ongoing business looting and public violence will soon be arrested.
On Wednesday, he conducted a situational analysis of the destruction in areas in both provinces. He also received reports from local police in Phoenix and Mobeni in Durban on their operational requirements to contain the violence.
BUSA continued in their statement, “Many vaccination sites have had to close, slowing the fight against the pandemic. While the immediate loss of life is shocking, these disruptions will have a severe impact across the country to both lives and livelihoods. This disorder has had a devastating economic impact, which represents a significant setback for economic recovery, and has significantly magnified the challenge of dealing with poverty, inequality, and unemployment.”
Investor Confidence
BUSA said the events of the past week in the country has massively undermined investor confidence, which will take years to rebuild.
“The impact on employers and employees is severe and will be significant for some time as businesses rebuild. Government must mobilise funds to assist employers and employees. The impact on vaccinations against the Covid pandemic is also serious. This is an emergency unparalleled in our democratic history and requires the state to take immediate action. We believe this must include a strongly enforced curfew in specific areas to clear the streets and allow law enforcement to regain control,” BUSA further stated.
BUSA has called on cabinet to:
1. Allocate emergency funds for the call up of all army reservists nationally and police reservists in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng.
2. Declare a 24-hour curfew in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng to enable order to be restored. 3. Deploy all available security services to strictly enforce the initial curfew and then existing curfews in terms of lockdown restrictions thereafter.
4. Station security services to at-risk areas to monitor the situation, enforce law and order, and be prepared to remain in position until order is fully restored.
5. Reverse the amendment to the Disaster Management Act allowing for gatherings by certain parties. Instead, we urge a restriction on gatherings must be strongly enforced. Business Unity South Africa can support government by quickly identifying at-risk areas and critical infrastructure that should be prioritised.
“We are able and willing to work with the security services to align our own efforts and security personnel. While in several cases our security staff have had to be withdrawn from their posts, in many others they continue to protect lives and property but need support from state security services. Through Business Against Crime, we have working channels of communication between business and the security services that can be used for this purpose,” BUSA further said.
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