South Africa’s riots have continued, with the death toll rising to 32 as police and the military struggle to quell the looting and violence in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.

Many of the deaths occurred in chaotic stampedes as scores of people looted food, electric appliances, alcohol and clothing from retail centres, KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala told the press on Tuesday morning.

“Yesterday’s events brought a lot of sadness. The number of people who have died in KwaZulu-Natal alone stands at 26. Many of them died from being trampled on during a stampede while people were looting items,” said Mr Zikalala.

In Gauteng, South Africa’s most populous province which includes the largest city, Johannesburg, six people have died, said officials.

The deployment of 2,500 soldiers to support the South African police has not yet stopped the rampant looting, although arrests are being made at some areas in Johannesburg, including Vosloorus in eastern Johannesburg.

Looting continued on Tuesday in Johannesburg shopping malls in township areas including Jabulani Mall and Dobsonville Mall in Soweto. There were also reports of continued looting in centres in KwaZulu-Natal.

The violence started in KwaZulu-Natal last week as protests against the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma who began serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court.

He was convicted of defying a court order to testify before a state-backed inquiry probing allegations of corruption during his term as president from 2009 to 2018.

The sporadic pro-Zuma violence spiralled into a spree of criminal theft in poor township areas of the two provinces, according to witnesses. So far the lawlessness has not spread to South Africa’s other nine provinces.

The Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, heard Zuma’s application to have his sentence rescinded on Monday.

Zuma’s lawyer presented his arguments that the top court made errors when sentencing Zuma to prison.

After 10 hours of testimony on Monday, the court judges said they would study the arguments and announce their decision at a later date.