South Africa to spend £48.3 million to beef up security post unrest

SOUTH AFRICAN government will spend an additional amount of $67.4 million (£48.3m) to beef up security after the deadly unrest earlier this month played havoc and caused loss of life and property.

Treasury allocated an additional 250m rand (£12.3m) to the police and 750m rand (£36.8m) to the military, finance minister Tito Mboweni told media.

President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed 25,000 soldiers to provide reinforcement to police overwhelmed in the wake of widespread looting and violence.

The unrest and protests broke out a day after the former president Jacob Zuma, 79, started serving a 15-month jail term on July 8. It erupted in KwaZulu-Natal and later spread to Johannesburg, the economic capital.

On June 29, Zuma was sentenced for failing to appear at the corruption inquiry led by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo in February.

The violence left at least 330 people dead and resulted in an estimated $3.4 billion (£2.4bn) in damage and looted stock.

Mboweni condemned the violence, saying "it is us in the community who must take responsibility for the safety and security of our assets."

The government said earlier it is clamping down on the alleged plotters of the unrest with some suspects arrested.