South Africa failed to foresee, disrupt deadly unrest, report says

FILE PHOTO: Members of the military patrol through the streets of Alexandra township as the country deploys the army to quell unrest linked to the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma, in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 15, 2021. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham/File Photo

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's police and intelligence services failed to anticipate and disrupt days of arson and looting last year in which more than 300 people died, a report into the unrest commissioned by the president and released on Monday found.

The violence was sparked by the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma for defying a court order to testify at a corruption inquiry and fanned by anger over the poverty and inequality that persist almost three decades after the end of apartheid.