THE death toll from pro-Zuma protests in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal climbed to 72 on Tuesday evening, with many people trampled to death during looting at stores, as police and the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) members fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to try to halt the unrest set off by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma.
More than 1 200 people have been arrested in the violence and rampant looting that has raged in the two provinces.
Many of the deaths in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces occurred in chaotic stampedes as thousands of people stole food, electric appliances, liquor and clothing from stores, police Major General Mathapelo Peters said in a statement Tuesday night.
She said 27 deaths were being investigated in KwaZulu-Natal province and 45 in Gauteng province. In addition to the people crushed, she said police were investigating deaths caused by explosions when people tried to
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