Leader Backs Order in South Africa, Vows to Catch Plotters
Voice of America
JOHANNESBURG - Standing before a looted mall and surrounded by soldiers, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed Friday to restore order to the country after a week of violence set off by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma.
Visiting the port city of Durban in hard-hit KwaZulu-Natal province, Zuma's home area, Ramaphosa said the chaos and violence in which more than 200 people died had been "planned and coordinated" and that the instigators will be prosecuted. "We have identified a good number of them, and we will not allow anarchy and mayhem to just unfold in our country," he said. One person has been arrested for instigating the violence and 11 others are under surveillance, officials said. As army tanks rolled by the trashed Bridge City mall, Ramaphosa said the deployment of 25,000 troops would end the violence and rampant theft that have hit KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces.
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