The unrest spiralled into a spree of looting in township areas of the two provinces, although it has not spread to South Africa’s other seven provinces, where police are on alert.

“The criminal element has hijacked this situation,” said Premier David Makhura of Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg.

More than half of South Africa’s 60 million people are living in poverty, with an unemployment rate of 32 per cent, according to official statistics. The pandemic, with job lay-offs and an economic downturn, has increased the hunger and desperation that helped propel the protests triggered by Zuma’s arrest into wider rioting.

“We understand that those unemployed have inadequate food. We understand that the situation has been made worse by the pandemic,” an emotional Makhura said on the state South African Broadcasting Corp. “But this looting is undermining our businesses here (in Soweto). It is undermining our economy, our community. It is undermining everything.”

As he spoke, the broadcast showed police trying to bring order to the Ndofaya shopping centre, where 10 people had been crushed to death in a looting stampede. Gunshots could be heard in the background.

Makhura appealed for leaders of political, religious and community organisations to urge people to halt the looting.

At least 19 people have been killed in Gauteng, including the 10 at the mall in the Meadowlands area of Soweto, Makhura said.

At least 26 people have been killed in KwaZulu-Natal province, many crushed in shops, the province’s premier, Sihle Zikalala, told a news conference on Tuesday.

The deployment of 2,500 soldiers to support the South African police has so far failed to stop the rampant looting, although arrests were being made in some areas in Johannesburg, including Vosloorus in the eastern part of the city.

More than 700 people were arrested in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, authorities said, but the situation was far from under control.

Looting continued on Tuesday in shopping malls in Johannesburg township areas, including Jabulani Mall and Dobsonville Mall in Soweto. There also were reports of looting in KwaZulu-Natal.

In Daveyton township, east of Johannesburg, more than 100 people, including women, children and older citizens, were arrested for stealing from shops inside the Mayfair Square mall.

Some of those arrested were bleeding from shattered glass on floors slippery from spilled milk, alcohol, yogurt and cleaning liquids that had been stolen from shops.

Running battles carried on as security and the police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to push back rioters, who were entering the shops by going through delivery entrances, emergency exits and climbing on roofs.

Bongani Mokoena, an employee at an auto supply store, said the rioters had taken everything from the shop, including batteries and shock absorbers.

By late afternoon the police managed to secure the mall, but rioters remained outside, throwing stones at the police and shouting for the release of those arrested. As evening fell more rioters gathered around the mall and police set up barricades to try to keep them away.

In Soweto, the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital reported that the number of injured people coming to the emergency ward had tripled from the daily average. The unrest forced the government to close some Covid-19 vaccination centres disrupting urgently needed efforts to inoculate thousands of those aged 50 and older per day.

In Johannesburg’s Alexandra township the Pan Africa shopping centre continued to be ransacked and was set on fire on Tuesday.

The Alex FM radio station which has served the Alexandra community for 27 years was broken into at 2am. Tuesday and thieves stole equipment worth 5 million rand (US$350,000), forcing the station off the air, station manager Takalane Nemangowe said.

“Our on-air presenter and security guards got out safely through the back door,” Nemangowe told Associated Press. “But the looters cleaned out our offices. They took all our broadcasting equipment, computers, laptops, microphones, everything.”

Nemangowe said that no police or army had been patrolling the area. The Alex FM station is community-funded and runs a training programme for young residents, he said. “We were the voice of the voiceless here in Alexandra. And now we are silent. It is really sad.”

But Nemangowe had not given up hope. By Tuesday afternoon he and other staff had been offered facilities at a radio station in the nearby affluent Sandton suburb where they were trying to start beaming back to the Alexandra community.

Authorities have repeatedly warned people, including Zuma supporters and relatives, against using social media to encourage the riots. Police minister Bheki Cele said on Tuesday that about a dozen people have been identified as having instigated the riots.

The Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, heard Zuma’s application to have his sentence rescinded on Monday. Zuma’s lawyer argued that the top court made errors when sentencing Zuma to prison. After 10 hours of testimony, the judges said they would announce their decision at a later date.