Unrest prompts fears of food, fuel shortages

JOHANNESBURG: Unrest raged in South Africa yesterday for the sixth day running, stoking fears of food and fuel shortages as disruption to farming, manufacturing and oil refining began to bite.

Seventy-two people have died and more than 1,200 people have been arrested, according to official figures, since former president Jacob Zuma began a 15-month jail term, sparking protests that swiftly turned violent.

Looting has hit supply chains and transport links in the Johannesburg region and the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal, sending a shockwave to goods and services around the country.

In the port city of Durban, people started queueing outside food stores and at fuel stations as early as 4am when the Covid night curfew ends.

The night before, the country’s largest refinery, Sapref, declared force majeure – an emergency beyond its control – and shuttered its plant in Durban, shutting down a third of South Africa’s fuel supply.

The firm said the refinery was “temporarily shut down ... due to the civil unrest and disruption of supply routes in and out of KwaZulu-Natal”.

Some fuel retaliers have begun rationing while others are starting to run dry.

“It’s inevitable that we will have fuel shortages in the next couple of days or weeks,” said Layton Beard, spokesman for South Africa’s Automobile Association.

“With these lootings, this has now seriously compromised our energy security and food security,” said Bonang Mohale, chancellor of the University of the Free State.