Ntombi Nkosi
Johannesburg – Members of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) arrived at the Pan Africa Shopping Centre in Alexandra township on Tuesday afternoon after thousands of looters were seen in almost all the shops in the area.
The looting happened occurred hours after President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned acts of theft and criminality in his address to the nation on Monday night.
The SANDF members arrived in the area just after 2pm, however, after much destruction had been carried out.
Before the arrival of the army, mobs were seen looting all types of goods ranging from food, electric appliances, cleaning good, foods and more.
The army fired live shots in the air sending the looters packing in all directions.
Some community members and business owners have questioned why it has taken long for the government to deploy the SANDF.
Just before 3pm, members of the SAPS also arrived on the scene to quell tensions and stop acts of lawlessness.
This morning the security cluster announced that about 19 people had died in Gauteng, 10 of them in a stampede at a mall in Soweto.
The mob did not only loot the shops, they also broke into the community radio station, Alex FM, vandalising and looted equipment with an estimated value of R5 million.
For the first time, the station that has been in operation for 27 years, was off the air.
“Looters gained entry to Alex FM overnight and took all our equipment. The station is the voice for the voiceless. We are pushing and things are looking good, 891 stereo should be back on air in no time,” station manager Takalane Nemangowe said.
There are fears that the violence could also spread to other areas.