President pledges to punish culprits behind ‘co-ordinated’ disorder

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has pledged to restore order after a week of violence set off by the jailing of exleader Jacob Zuma.

Standing at a looted mall in the port city of Durban and surrounded by soldiers, Mr Ramaphosa said the chaos and violence had been “planned and co-ordinated” but instigators will be prosecuted.

Mr Ramaphosa said the deployment of 25,000 troops would end the violence and rampant theft in Kwazulu-natal and Gauteng provinces.

South Africa’s unrest erupted after Zuma began serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court for ignoring a court order to give evidence at a state-backed inquiry investigating claims of corruption while he was president from 2009 to 2018.

Protests quickly escalated into looting in township areas.

More than 2,200 people have been arrested for theft and vandalism and 117 people have died, said Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, acting minister in the presidency.

The army rollout in Kwazulu-natal is expected to restore order in the coastal province within a few days.

In a sign of a return to stability, a strategic highway linking Durban and Johannesburg reopened yesterday after being closed for a week, officials announced.