According to police officials, at least four people have died amid demonstrations against the high cost of energy in a South African township.
In the Thembisa township, northeast of Johannesburg’s financial district, locals on Monday blocked highways with burning tires and set fire to a municipal structure out of frustration with the exorbitant cost of basic services.
Authorities reported that after the protests started in the morning, two persons were murdered in purported police shootings.
According to AFP, local municipal police spokeswoman Kelebogile Thepa, “it’s alleged they have been shot.”
Thepa reported that two additional victims had been discovered later that evening next to the building’s burning entryway, raising the death toll to four.
She noted that police had not yet determined what caused the fatalities. Investigations were being conducted.
In South Africa, which has some of the highest unemployment and crime rates in the world, protests against subpar services are common. In recent months, power outages have also increased in frequency as national utility provider Eskom struggles with a labor strike and large debts.
Less than two weeks prior to the most recent round of protests, former president Thabo Mbeki had warned that growing unrest in the nation may lead to an upheaval akin to the Arab Spring.
President Cyril Ramaphosa was accused by Mbeki last month of not following through on his pledges to combat widespread poverty, inequality, and unemployment, which currently stands at South than 34.5 percent, with youth unemployment at about 64 percent.
Because of disruptions in the supply of wheat brought on by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the situation has gotten worse as food prices have increased.
The greatest violence that South Africa has seen since the end of the apartheid era three decades ago broke out there a year ago. More than 350 people died as a result of the widespread rioting and looting.
Following Jacob Zuma’s jail for ignoring corruption investigators, there were riots for ten days. They mostly occurred in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, but they also occurred in Gauteng, where Johannesburg is situated.
