The South African authorities will destroy all recovered looted goods once they have been used as evidence in criminal cases, a minister has said.
Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, the acting minister in the presidency, said the police were conducting home searches in a bid to recover stolen items.
People have also been asked to voluntarily surrender them.
“If the goods circulate in the market, they diminish the value of other goods. We cannot afford to collapse the economy by allowing stolen goods to circulate,” Ms Ntshavheni said.
Crowds looted at least 200 shopping centres during the unrest that erupted following the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma for 15 months earlier this month for contempt of court.
More than 200 people died in the violence that mainly affected the provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Source: BBC