South Africa's leader vows to restore order, catch plotters

South Africa's leader has gone to Johannesburg’s Soweto township to view badly damaged shopping centers where people were trampled to death in rioting sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma

JOHANNESBURG -- South Africa's leader went to Johannesburg's Soweto township Sunday to view badly damaged shopping centers where people were trampled to death in rioting sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma. President Cyril Ramaphosa toured the Ndofaya Mall in the Meadowlands part of Soweto, where at least 10 people died in the ransacking. South Africa’s unrest erupted earlier this month when Zuma began serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court. He had defied a court order to testify at a state-backed inquiry investigating allegations of corruption while he was president from 2009 to 2018. The protests quickly escalated to a weeklong spree of violence, South Africa's worst rioting since the country achieved majority rule democracy in 1994. The unrest hit the KwaZulu-Natal province, which is Zuma's home area, and Gauteng, South Africa's most populous province, which includes Johannesburg, the country's largest city. Trucks were burned, strategic highways blocked and thousands of rioters ransacked malls and shopping centers in the two provinces.