There has been rioting and looting in South Africa this past week, after a culmination of the COVID pandemic worsening an already struggling economy, and the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma amidst allegations of corruption while in office.
Wikipedia has some basic background reading on the subject.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has addressed the nation on this issue.
“It is clear now that the events of the past week were nothing less than a deliberate, co-ordinated and well-planned attack on our democracy. The constitutional order of our country is under threat,” said Ramaphosa.
He also commented on the country's unpreparedness to deal with the incidents.
“We must acknowledge that we were poorly prepared for an orchestrated campaign of public violence, destruction and sabotage of this nature.
“While we commend the brave actions of our security forces on the ground, we must admit that we did not have the capabilities and plans in place to respond swiftly and decisively.”
On a more positive note, the rainbow nation showed what it is truly capable of in the wake of this destruction.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Facebook group Rebuild South Africa, which was started by volunteers wishing to assist those physically, psychologically or otherwise harmed by the violence, said it already has more than 22,000 members.
They further said that the Rebuild SA initiative is not associated with any government entity.
The hashtag #CleanUpSA has also gained traction on Twitter as ordinary South Africans share contacts and skills to restore some sort of order in what has been the country’s worst few days of civil unrest since the dawn of democracy in SA.
Hopefully things settle down soon, although the broader problem of South Africa's high unemployment rate is going to be a long-term one.