Gauteng Premier David Makhura says the economic cost of last month’s unrest in the province now stands at R5 billion, with 18 000 jobs lost.
Makhura was responding to questions during a virtual sitting of the Gauteng Legislature.
Eighty out of 500 shopping malls in Gauteng were looted and vandalised during the unrest. Small businesses including spaza shops were also attacked.
Arrests were made following the looting:
There were also threats of renewed unrest last week.
Makhura says police are now better prepared to deal with any threats.
“They will always try to use grievances of people whether it is service delivery … and some of this is political opportunism amongst people who want to profile themselves and sometimes think they can win the support of South Africans. They think South Africans are so stupid and gullible. I can never say they will stop attempting and I can never say they will not succeed. All I can say is that there are lessons learned by our law enforcement agencies.”
