As protest prompted by ex-president Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment began its fourth day, the South African army said it was deploying troops to two provinces, including Johannesburg, to assist quell mob violence and looting.
“The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has commenced with pre-deployment processes and procedures in line with a request for assistance,” the military said in a statement.
Personnel would “help law enforcement forces deployed in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces to quiet the turmoil that has gripped both provinces in recent days,” according to the statement.
The violence erupted as the Constitutional Court considered whether Zuma should be imprisoned for contempt of court. Later, an announcement is expected.
The country’s top court on June 29 gave Zuma 15-month term for snubbing a probe into the corruption that stained his nine years in power.
Zuma began the sentence last Thursday but is seeking to have the ruling set aside.
“What we are saying is that this court made fundamentally rescindable errors,” Zuma’s lawyer Dali Mpofu argued in an on-line hearing before nine of the court’s 11 judges.
Aing that Zuma had been treated unfairly and his “right to mitigation was limited,” he said.
One of the judges, Steven Majiedt, bluntly noted that Zuma had been convicted “because he disobeyed the order of this court.”
Despite his reputation for graft and scandal, the 79-year-old former anti-apartheid fighter remains popular among many poor South Africans.