Anti-Royalist riots in South Africa

A wave of anti-monarchy demonstrations, many of which turned violent, has swept across South Africa. Thousands of protesters took to the street, storming police stations and other government buildings. Portraits of the King were torn down, slashed, burned, and, in one occasion, dissolved in acid. The police and the military were noted by observers to be very reluctant to try and contain the uprising, opting instead to guard factories and bridges. This has raised the question whether the riots really came as a surprise to the government.