BBC: "South Africa looting: I'm struggling to find food"

Furthermore, some adjacent suburbs have been blocked off by residents who have formed neighbourhood watch groups, or what local media call "defence squads", to prevent invasions.

"They don't allow any non-resident in, not even during the day, so even if I want to, I can't take a drive there to look for groceries," John said.

In his suburb, the neighbourhood patrol operates only at night. He has joined it, along with about 25 other men.

"Some have guns, but most of us just carry sticks, pipes and torches. I never thought I'll ever do this, but we have no choice. There are no police; no soldiers," he said.

"We block all intersections with our cars. Some of us will stand there; others will do foot patrols.

"If we get suspicious of someone we'll tell them to leave, and we've had a few instances of unregistered cars. We suspect they had come to survey our area to plan an attack," John said.