South Africa (MNN) — South Africa will deploy 25,000 troops to counter looting and riots that engulfed the country this week. Over 70 people have died during the riots, which began after the imprisonment of a former South African president on corruption charges.
Stuart Gordon, Human Resources Director at Trans World Radio (TWR) Africa, says, “We have some 200 shopping centers that have been vandalized, and even burned to the ground. We have some towns, for example, Howick, that have become ghost towns. It was totally destroyed and burned to the ground.”
Devastation
With so many shopping centers damaged, many South Africans can’t get food. Gordon says looters have even damaged gas and oxygen supplies to the hospitals. “It’s really bad. And I think most of us South Africans are in shock. We never expected this to happen. We have never seen this. I’ve never seen this in my lifetime. A lot of reporters from South Africa are saying this is the worst that it’s ever been.”
Pray for the safety of South Africans, and ask God to bring calm to the country. Gordon tells of one TWR branch near a looting hotspot. “Just two days ago, they were going to march up close by the property. But we prayed, and nothing happened. But it is still a hot area. There is a lot of looting still going on. And there are other Christian ministries there as well.”
The header photo shows an empty grocery aisle in Johannesburg, South Africa, due to panic buying. (Photo courtesy of Aleksandar Bulovic’, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
