FORMER National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare a state of emergency amid rising civil unrest.
Pikoli said that very shortly the country would be faced with food and fuel shortages in certain areas, which would lead to further civil unrest.
“The economy and infrastructure is being destroyed. There are already 45 people who have died. The police are being shot at, people are losing their jobs. At what point do we say enough is enough? Is the threshold 100 dead people before a declaration of a state of emergency?” said Pikoli.
He said the declaration of a state of emergency would empower the police and the army.
In a media briefing on Tuesday, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said the decision to declare a state of emergency rested with the president, but the Department of Defence did not think the country had reached that point yet.
“The government will consider instituting a state of emergency if it deems it necessary to quell the violent protests,” she said.
The Constitution allows the president to declare a state of emergency with immediate effect for only 21 days, and any extension must be voted on by Parliament.
“Violent unrest will continue to erupt from time to time until structural issues are resolved. A military/security response is not the answer, as conflict hold back efforts to rebuild the economy. For true peace and security, economic security and development must come first,” said Defenceweb’s Guy Martin.
Since Friday, demonstrators have targeted shopping malls, major highways and trucks in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, causing damage to property and infrastructure. So far, about 757 arrests (453 in Gauteng and 304 in KZN) and 10 deaths (four in KZN and six in Gauteng) have been reported.
In KZN, where the unrest first erupted, some Community Policing Forums (CPFs) said they supported the declaration of a state of emergency, because they were seeing an unprecedented level of aggression.
Chairperson of the Mayville CPF Zain Soosiwala, said they were not only asking for a state of emergency to be declared, but also for the deployment of the army to quell the riots.
“We are fully in support of the state of emergency. We are encouraging the deployment of the army. We are seeing an unprecedented level of aggression that has never been seen before. This will be regarded as the 2021 riots. We do not want to become victims of this. We are pleading with all levels of government to declare a state of emergency because we are seeing this escalating,” he said.
Durban CPF chairperson Imtiaz Syed told IOL that since the unrest started there has been an increased interest in people wanting to arm themselves.
“We have seen quite a few people making requests for ammunition and firearms. It is important for us to understand that they have a right to bear arms, but, unfortunately, the situation at the moment is very volatile. We are in a situation where now civilians are taking arms. That’s really cause for concern,” said Syed.
African News Agency (ANA)