Tremendous damage caused by looting shown in one table

Thousands of businesses and numerous government departments are still counting the costs of the damage caused by rampant looting and violence in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng earlier this month.

Malls, shopping centres, supermarkets, wholesalers, restaurants, warehouses, banking facilities, schools, trucks and even blood banks were hit by looters over the course of several days following the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma.

More than 200 people lost their lives, and over 2,500 were arrested for partaking in the looting and public violence.

Shocked bystanders and news crews shared videos and photos of many of the incidents on social media.

Among these were aerial shots from a helicopter showing thousands of looters pouring in and out of a Massmart distribution centre and loading stolen goods into cars, trolleys, and even baby strollers to take home.

The shops are now empty and the looters have now moved to the Game Stores Warehouse in Durban. Soldiers are not allowed to use live ammunition so looting continues. pic.twitter.com/iopIQSwVy5

— Mbari Gurundoro🇿🇼 (@Gulaz01) July 13, 2021

Business Leadership South Africa estimated that damages to businesses amounted to over R5 billion for the retail industry alone.

Citing credible industry sources, Intellidex analyst Peter Attard Monalto said that R1.5 billion in stock was lost during the looting in the Durban economic zone alone, while the violence also resulted in R15 billion in property damage.

The South African Property Owners Association stated that the looting and destruction will have a R20 billion impact on KwaZulu-Natal’s GDP growth and a cut R50 billion from the country’s GDP growth.

Approximately 3,000 stores were looted, with extensive damage caused to 161 malls, 11 warehouses, 8 factories, and 161 liquor outlets and distributors.

100 malls were burnt or suffered significant fire damage, while 200 shopping centres were looted and damaged.

Ratings agency S&P Global has forecast that the looting could result in headline GDP growth in 2021 being cut by 0.7%.

While not all the businesses that suffered losses due to the looting have come forward, many have shared staggering figures that illustrate the extent of the destruction.

The table below shows the number of stores or facilities confirmed to be looted and/or damaged.

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