News / Africa
Businesses lose millions as protests continue
08 Mar 2016 at 12:37hrs | Views
Durban - Ongoing violence in at the Isithebe industrial estate on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast has cost the 200 factories millions of rands in damages and lost production.
Stephen Fox, spokesman for Business Against Crime Mandeni, said: "If we take into account lost production it is going to run into millions."
Police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane said that a truck and two factories were torched overnight on Monday.
However, Fox said that only one factory was totally gutted by fire, while there had been numerous attacks on businesses since Sunday with attempts to set factories alight.
Police reported on Monday that four factories had been torched on Sunday night, but Fox said none of the four factories was burnt down, although they did sustain damage as a result of the attempt to burn them down.
The North Coast Courier newspaper reported on Tuesday that the protesters had been blocking roads with burning objects and stoning buildings.
According to the newspaper, the riots have been sparked by dissatisfaction over the appointment of two izindunas (headmen) by a local chief.
However, according to Fox that was simply one of many reasons that have been put forward for the protests.
Others include dissatisfaction over African National Congress (ANC) candidates and housing.
"We are really not sure what's going on. I don't know what the real reason is for the protests," he said.
He said that the protests did not appear to relate to labour issues and that no single business appeared to be specifically targeted .
"It's panic around here. Even the banks are closed," he said
On Monday, Zwane said that 120 people had been arrested in connection with public violence charges and that they were expected to appear in court on Tuesday.
Members of the police's public order policing units in Empangeni, Ulundi and Newcastle have been deployed to Isithebe.
The industrial estate was established during the apartheid era and many of the workers for the factories live in areas right next to the estate.
Isithebe is located near Mandeni, which is about 90 kilometres south of Richards Bay.
Stephen Fox, spokesman for Business Against Crime Mandeni, said: "If we take into account lost production it is going to run into millions."
Police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane said that a truck and two factories were torched overnight on Monday.
However, Fox said that only one factory was totally gutted by fire, while there had been numerous attacks on businesses since Sunday with attempts to set factories alight.
Police reported on Monday that four factories had been torched on Sunday night, but Fox said none of the four factories was burnt down, although they did sustain damage as a result of the attempt to burn them down.
The North Coast Courier newspaper reported on Tuesday that the protesters had been blocking roads with burning objects and stoning buildings.
According to the newspaper, the riots have been sparked by dissatisfaction over the appointment of two izindunas (headmen) by a local chief.
However, according to Fox that was simply one of many reasons that have been put forward for the protests.
Others include dissatisfaction over African National Congress (ANC) candidates and housing.
"We are really not sure what's going on. I don't know what the real reason is for the protests," he said.
He said that the protests did not appear to relate to labour issues and that no single business appeared to be specifically targeted .
"It's panic around here. Even the banks are closed," he said
On Monday, Zwane said that 120 people had been arrested in connection with public violence charges and that they were expected to appear in court on Tuesday.
Members of the police's public order policing units in Empangeni, Ulundi and Newcastle have been deployed to Isithebe.
The industrial estate was established during the apartheid era and many of the workers for the factories live in areas right next to the estate.
Isithebe is located near Mandeni, which is about 90 kilometres south of Richards Bay.
Source - African News Agency
