SOUTH AFRICA ZUMA RIOT: JACOB ZUMA SHOULD SPEAK TO HIS SUPPORTERS NOW .

ICHEOKU says with 77 persons already killed and over 2000 others arrested, and properties running into billions of Rand now destroyed, looted and burnt, it is time for the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa to crackdown heavily on the rioters and end the ongoing madness in South Africa. Nothing justifies the level of lawlessness being witnessed in South Africa, especially the loss of so many lives and the ensuing existential threat to an economy already burdened with heavy unemployment and the Chinese coronavirus disease. 

Jacob Zuma should, without any further ado, foot dragging or needless delay, speak to his supporters and order them off the streets and end the destruction going on in South Africa. It was obviously instigated, sponsored and organized by his Jacob Zuma Foundation and their issued statement collaborates this assertion. No rational and responsible elder statesman, especially one who once led South Africa as president, would remain silent, watching the ongoing wanton destruction in South Africa and not do something immediately to bring it to an end. A matter made more incumbent on him because he is the reason for the riots and he could have easily disassociated himself from it and denounced them as hooligans. He therefore needs to speak up and forcefully demand that the riots end immediately.

ICHEOKU says nothing, including securing freedom for the imprisoned Jacob Zuma, is worth sacrificing 77 South Africans and the level of destruction being witnessed in South Africa. Jacob Zuma must therefore rise up to the occasion, stop being selfish about it and put an end to it. Enough of the madness already. He should implore his supporters to sheet their swords and end the mayhem because they are hurting themselves by destroying their country and their means of livelihood. Imagine the damage the madness is doing to South Africa in the eyes of the world; South Africa which used to be the last hope of black Africa as a place where law and order exists and which is conducive for investments. Which prospective investors will now not see South Africa in a different light? 

With a 47% unemployment rate, South Africa could definitely use every help which they can get from any investor in reducing the ticking time bomb which their economy has become. So, why supply a fuse to the situation with this Zuma riots in addition to a coronavirus which has returned with vengeance in South Africa. Now, the government will be burdened further with the cost of the riots in addition to managing a nearly flatlined economy and the coronavirus. Then add insurance companies which will be forced to increase premiums to offset their loss, assuming the cost overruns of paying the insured businesses doesn't first force them into bankruptcy.

As it stands now, the trajectory South Africa is not encouraging: they are bedeviled by their xenophobic attacks and now this added destructive riots; looting, burning and destroying foreign investments in their country. They are making their country unlivable and unattractive a place for people to want to come or even continue to live in and very soon, everyone who can might be forced to move out of South Africa. The plummeting situation in South Africa need to be brought under control so that safety and security can be restored immediately to South Africa. 

It is in everyone's interest, especially the impoverished black folks who are spearheading the ongoing riots. They are the ones whose jobs will disappear first and without jobs, meeting their basic needs will be impossible; a risk which they possibly did not think through first before activating their own Black Lives Matter cells and visiting on South Africa similar iniquities as their benefactor America's Black Lives Matter made America suffer last summer 2020.

Unfortunately, Jacob Zuma's Foundation released a statement threatening the continuation of the riots until their leader Jacob Zuma is released from prison; begging the question doesn't the foundation believe in the rule of law? If so, what is the South African government waiting for to revoke their license and declare them an unlawful organization since they are supporting and somehow sponsoring the breakdown of law and order in South Africa. They want to  blackmail the government with destructive riots into releasing Jacob Zuma from prison and making it a condition to ending the mayhem. According to them, "peace and stability in South Africa is directly linked to the release of President Zuma with immediate effect" and you ask yourself why is the foundation still allowed to operate in South Africa when they wish South Africa ill and wants to destroy it.

ICHEOKU says the government must treat their blackmail as domestic terrorism and extirpate it immediately. It is a national disgrace and stands counter to everything which Nelson Mandela stood for and died for. It seems that Jacob Zuma did not learn anything of intrinsic value from the icon of South African freedom struggle. It is adding insult to injury for Jacob Zuma's Foundation to make sure a statement, in addition sponsoring the riots. It is imperative therefore that Jacob Zuma call his rabid dogs off the streets of South Africa and end the mayhem forthwith. President Cyril Ramaphosa must not give in to the blackmail and should take his responsibility of protecting South Africa very seriously, by using every means possible to bring the worsening situation under immediate control. Enough of the bleeding. #ZumaEndTheRiotsNow.