Deadly Rioting Continues in South Africa
Voice of America
JOHANNESBURG - Rioting and looting in South Africa continued Wednesday, raising the death toll to more than 70 as defiant protesters ignored government demands to end violence.
The unrest was sparked last week when former president Jacob Zuma began serving a 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court after he failed to attend a hearing to answer questions about corruption allegations. Protests over Zuma’s arrest quickly evolved into mass civil unrest, the country’s worst in years. Looters continued to vandalize shopping malls, other retail outlets and businesses in the province of Gauteng, which includes the country’s largest city of Johannesburg. Security forces seemed unable to prevent the looting, which also continued in Zuma's home province, KwaZulu-Natal and spread overnight to the provinces of Mpumalanga and Northern Cape, according to police.
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