There were growing concerns of supply shortages in South Africa after days of mob violence and vigilantism that have shut down major highways, destroyed businesses and left more than 100 people dead.
One of the chief supply bottlenecks was the closures of several main roads in the country, hindering food and fuel deliveries.
Bakeries reported having trouble obtaining flour. Refinery closures in Durban have led to long queues in front of the few open petrol stations in the city. The government warned against panic-buying and hoarding, and temporarily issued a ban on buying gasoline in jerry cans.
A shortage of medicines in the hard-hit province of KwaZulu-Natal, which includes the coastal city of Durban, was also worrying residents, after numerous drugstores and medical clinics were looted and vandalized.
Chaos erupted across swathes of the country following the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma a week ago. The protests devolved into unchecked looting, arson and violence.
The impacts of the unrest were continuing to be revealed.
According to local media, when a pesticide production facility in KwaZulu-Natal was burned down, toxins entered a neighbouring river and caused mass deaths of fish and shrimp. Authorities confirmed fish had died, but said they were still investigating the exact cause.
Farmers, meanwhile, often have to destroy their milk, as there is frequently no reliable way to transport it to market from the production site in a timely manner, the South African Milk Processors’ Organisation said.
There have also been unconfirmed reports of farms being looted.
South Africa’s government has mobilized a total of 30,000 troops to aid local law enforcement in combating the ongoing violent protests, marking one of the largest deployments in 27 years of South African democracy.
