It's bad. The arrest of Zuma is the spark that set this off. The worst income inequality in the world and 40% unemployment is unsustainable, who would've thought? Local supermarkets and pharmacies are empty, I'm just glad they haven't been burnt down otherwise I'd have no food. Racists and ethno nationalists keep trying to add fuel to the fire. The army has been deployed, it's very bad. Unless the inequality is addressed it will happen again. Desperately need a Chinese style lift people out of poverty program. Also that death number is outdated, it's probably in the hundreds now unfortunately.

Going to copy one of my previous comments as well

Only got that bad recently because they arrested Jacob Zuma, the corrupt ex president a few days ago. The situation is complicated because Zuma was a liberation and struggle hero, he spent 10 years on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela. Which means a lot of people are still loyal to him, because of his work in the past. Sadly after being president from 2009-2018 I think he was extremely corrupt and terrible, worst examples include building his own homestead with 20 million USD of taxpayer money, and saying that a shower can cure HIV/AIDS, in a country where 1 in 5 adults under 50 has HIV. Also Zuma is of Zulu ethnicity, which leads to his ethno nationalistic supporters commiting xenophobic and ethno-nationalistic attacks against others. Venda people have been the most effected recently as the current president (Cyril Ramaphosa) is Venda. There are accusations of betrayal and breaking agreed social contracts by the ANC jailing one of its own, especially such an important figure. The situation is complicated, this seems to have been the spark for such rioting. But there is also lots of xenophobic and ethno-nationalistic attacks and innocent people being harmed. And then the local chuds inflame the situation by posing like “rooftop Koreans” protecting their property. Lots of dogwhistles about"property rights"