Hunger drives people into desperation. As they say, a hungry stomach is an angry one. Remember, two million people lost their livelihoods due to Covid-19.

This is complicated by another pandemic of youth unemployment and poorly-led police. Police minister Bheki Cele has been found wanting umpteenth times. He has failed to lead.

This senseless violence could have been avoided with better policing. If our security agencies are hopeless against looters, how can we expect them to deal with Isis in Mozambique?

All Cele does is talk big but do nothing. In the Beyonce concert, people were robbed while the police were around. In Durban, the Shoprite store was looted a stone’s throw from the police station.

A Pietermaritzburg mall was set on fire. What will happen to those jobs? The twitter commanders behind this anarchy don’t care. They are spewing all this poison from the comfort of their homes.

Their bank accounts are healthy. Small business owners like Ntuthuko Mhlongo, who lost all his trucks, will have to suffer. In the name of Jacob Zuma they are prepared to see this country reduced to ashes.

In Africa, poverty has been abused by politicians to flame negative ethnicity and tribalism. Empty stomachs will swallow any lies just to see another day.

Once the tribalism fires are started, you cannot stop them. I have seen this movie before. Zuma today, looting follows and then xenophobic attacks. This is going to end badly.

I remember the words of Chinua Achebe in his poem Casualties: The casualties are not only those who started a fire and now cannot put it out. Thousands are burning that had no say in the matter.”

                                                                                                      Dr Lucas Ntyintyane, email