Crowds clashed with police as shopping malls were ransacked or burned as the anger over the arrest of the former President last week escalated into widespread violence marked by looting and vandalism.

At least 800 people have been arrested in the unrest that began last Thursday and turned violent over the weekend, said a BBC report.

International media reported that the violence is an apparent manifestation of the generalised anger over inequality that has persisted for 27 years after the fall of apartheid.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic poverty has worsened in the country as the government imposed social and economic restrictions to block the spread of the disease.

Violence spread from Zuma's home in KwaZulu-Natal province to Gauteng province surrounding the country's biggest city Johannesburg, said an Al Jazeera  report.

The news organisation said that the broad scope and the wide extent of the uprising seen in a number of different cities is unexpected. The most striking point in the sudden protest is the multi-layered nature of the crisis, social and economic disparities, social exclusion that have continued since the time of apartheid in South Africa to the following years, marked by misrule, even during Jacob Zuma's presidency between 2009 to 2018.

On Tuesday, Zuma's foundation said there would be no peace in South Africa until the former president was released from jail, according to Al Jazeera.

“Peace and stability in South Africa is directly linked to the release of President Zuma with immediate effect,” it said in a tweet.

“The violence could have been avoided. It started with the decision of the constitutional court to detain president Zuma … This is what gave anger to the people,” a spokesman for the foundation told Reuters news agency separately.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said late on Monday that troops were being dispatched to assist the police to end the unrest and restore order.

More than 400 people were arrested in Gauteng, but the situation was far from under control, said Premier David Makhura of Gauteng province, Al Jazeera reported.

He also said that the uprising has been hijacked by criminal elements.

“... this looting is undermining our businesses here (in Soweto). It is undermining our economy, our community. It is undermining everything,” he said.

Zuma was convicted of contempt of court in June after failing to attend an inquiry into corruption during his presidency.

The 79-year-old, who denies corruption, was given a 15-month prison sentence. He turned himself in late on Wednesday.

He is hoping to get the sentence revoked or cut down by the country's constitutional Court.