Johannesburg - The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has condemned the current looting, violence, and lawlessness that is currently unfolding in the two volatile provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
The union said in the aftermath of this situation, many workers would lose their jobs, many families will be left with no means of earning a living as many shops and trucks are completely burnt and destroyed.
NUM national spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu said the looting of these businesses is the destruction of the working-class families’ source of earning and sustainability.
“As the NUM, we support the constitution and the rule of law. We call on the ANC government to convene an urgent alliance meeting as one of the urgent interventions to consolidate political efforts to attend to the upheavals,” said Mammburu.
Mammburu said this could not be left to the government alone without invoking the wisdom of political structures outside government.
“We call on other provinces to take serious contingency measures to prevent any potentiality of the same anarchy. While we support effective law enforcement, we should avoid unnecessary deaths resulting due to such interventions. The NUM calls on all South Africans to say no to looting,” he said.
Despite many political parties, unions, and civil organisations calling for calm, widespread looting is continuing in Gauteng and KZN, and the death toll in both provinces is climbing.
About 2500 soldiers had been deployed for three months in volatile areas.
Meanwhile, a total of 757 people have been arrested for looting and participating in the destruction of property in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal so far, reported Police Minister Bheki Cele at a media briefing on Tuesday morning.
In KwaZulu-Natal, a total of 304 people have been arrested while 453 were arrested in Gauteng, while the death toll has risen to 30 people, including an Ekurhuleni Metro Police officer Meshack Mahlangu.