Act now to end culture of looting

THE province of KwaZulu-Natal has been a troubled one from time immemorial. In the late 1980s and ’90s, it was one of the provinces that were gutted by so-called black-on-black violence when the UDF took on the IFP.

When that was settled, the province became a flashpoint for political intolerance among its people who were caught between IFP and ANC support lines. After several efforts to deal with that, it became a thing of the past.

The province then became home to violent crime and political killings. Sadly these are taking root, and seemingly very little is being done to deal with them even though the reputation of the province is being heavily tainted.

In the midst of this, another challenge popping up in the province is that of the looting of businesses, cargo trucks and shops.

This started in July last year when former president Jacob Zuma was arrested for contempt of the Constitutional Court.

If you closely analyse how the looting was triggered, you will notice that Covid-19-restrictions-weary residents were already looking for excuses to start looting.

Once an excuse presented itself, looters started looting shops and other businesses in Durban.

That spread to other parts of the province and to parts of Gauteng, gutting the country’s already ailing economy.

Although there were already signs that looting was becoming a culture, nothing was done to nip it in the bud, hence this demon is now frequently rearing its ugly head.

Recently we saw residents of KwaMashu looting a Shoprite truck while they were picketing and demanding that water and electricity be restored following the devastating flooding in Durban.

The government and other stakeholders must stand up and deal with this and make sure that the perpetrators are brought to book as speedily as possible.

Decisive action from the leadership is a must if this is to be stopped.