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Six people have been killed and 219 arrested amid an escalating riots in Johannesburg, which erupted after the imprisonment of former South African President Jacob Zuma.
Shops and businesses were looted and vandalized, and burning vehicles and debris were left on the roads.
The violence was sparked last week when Zuma began serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court.
The 79-year-old had defied a court order to testify at a state-backed investigation examining corruption allegations during his tenure as president from 2009 to 2018.
The Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, is due to hear Zuma’s appeal against the conviction on Monday.
Riots by Zuma supporters began in his hometown of KwaZulu-Natal province last week and spread over the weekend to Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, Africa’s largest city. South.
Sky News Africa correspondent John Sparks, who is in Johannesburg, said it had been “a dramatic day – a tumultuous day” in many South African cities.
“The police were involved in skirmishes with locals, protesters and criminal elements, which basically went through the central business district and ransacked it. They are largely outnumbered by the population, ”he said.
“They use rubber bullets to try to repel them. The people temporarily disperse, then they assemble, and they come back and start looting again. The shops and businesses are finished – there is nothing left here.
Sparks said such scenes had not been seen in South Africa for many years.
“This was partly caused – or at least triggered – by the arrest of Jacob Zuma, the former president who ruled this country for 10 years,” he said.
“Eventually he was arrested on Thursday and it sparked protests across the country.
“Members of his family have come out and publicly supported the violence on Twitter. I don’t think you can describe this violence as demonstrations – it really turned into looting and crime.
“The police are outnumbered here… basically the police can’t handle this. It’s too much for them.
Watching events unfold in the streets of Johannesburg, he described a shopping center that had been “overrun” and “completely stripped” of its premises, including ATMs and “anything of value”.
He added: “We have seen three days of protests, riots, general anarchy in some of the biggest cities in South Africa.
“What the police have tried to do is restore order in the central business district, but they are completely overwhelmed.
“They used rubber bullets to push people back, but as soon as they do, people show up again.
“We have now heard that the South African army will be deployed on the streets and frankly, this kind of scene has been replicated in towns and villages across the country.”
Sparks said businesses will “start from scratch” because of the violence, vandalism and looting.
“It’s obviously a tragedy for the people who own these companies, who work here – I’m talking about the thousands of people who would work here because it’s all gone,” he said. “They are going to start from scratch.
“I think it’s important to say that the unemployment rate in South Africa is very high – COVID has been really hard on people.
“We are in the midst of a nasty third wave of infection with high levels of restrictions now in place in the country and people are hungry – it is a country in the developing world and people are frustrated and angry. “
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