In S.Africa, 28 Arrested and Highway Closed Over Pro-Zuma Protests

JOHANNESBURG - South African police said on Saturday that 28 people had been arrested and one of the country's biggest highways remained closed over violent protests linked to former president Jacob Zuma's imprisonment.

Protests erupted this week in parts of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Zuma's home province, after the ex-leader handed himself over to police to serve a 15-month jail term for contempt of court. On Friday, the high court dismissed Zuma's application to have his arrest overturned in a case that has been seen as a test of the post-apartheid nation's rule of law. An hour before the ruling, a Reuters photographer saw a group of protesters shouting "Zuma!" burning tires and blocking a road. Zuma's imprisonment has laid bare deep divisions in the governing African National Congress (ANC), as a party faction remains loyal to the former president and has been a potent source of opposition to his successor, Cyril Ramaphosa. KZN police spokesman Jay Naicker said the 28 arrests had happened since Friday on charges including public violence, burglary, malicious damage to property, and contravention of COVID-19 lockdown regulations.