A wave of rioting, looting, and violence tore across South Africa this week after former president Jacob Zuma was jailed, with mobs setting fire to and ransacking every storefront in sight. Unlike the U.S. Black Lives Matter riots in 2020, however, where police often protected looters and where armed citizens were arrested for defending property, citizens in South Africa have been allowed to protect themselves in several neighborhoods.
Video footage shows citizens engaging a massive contingent of looters on a roadway, using shotguns that appear to be loaded with birdshot and less-lethal ammunition. In another clip townspeople can be seen confronting looters with handguns on a busy street. Read more…
