IGBOZURUOKE MEDIA

A video circulating on social media has captured a tense moment in South Africa, where a group of locals confronted a Nigerian businessman amid rising anti-immigrant protests.

In the footage, the visibly distressed trader is surrounded and questioned by individuals who accuse him of operating a business in the country as a foreigner. 

The confrontation quickly escalates into threats and ultimatums, with the group insisting that he must leave immediately.

“How come you are here in South Africa to get selling goods?” one of the men repeatedly asked, challenging the businessman’s presence. 

Despite the trader’s attempt to explain that he had lived in the country for a long time and was only trying to provide for his family, the group dismissed his response. 

“I didn’t come to South Africa today. I’m here for a long time… the only thing is what I’m doing to feed my children,” the man said in the video.

However, the situation grew more hostile as the group declared that foreigners were no longer welcome in the area.

“From now on, we don’t want foreigners in this town. We are fixing our South Africa now,” one voice was heard saying.

The businessman, who revealed that he is married with children living in the country, was ordered to leave with his family.

“Take your wife and go back to your country… take your children and go and raise them at home,” the group insisted, giving him no room to negotiate.

At some point, the men warned him that the encounter would be his last in the area, repeatedly stressing that he must leave “now, not tomorrow.”

The incident is the latest in a series of xenophobic tensions targeting foreign nationals, particularly Africans, in South Africa.

Reacting to the development, the South African Police Service condemned the attacks, describing them as unlawful and a violation of constitutional values.

In a statement, the police authorities said, “These actions are not only unlawful, but they stand in direct opposition to the values of dignity, equality, and human rights upon which our democracy is founded.”

The agency warned that no individual or group has the right to take the law into their own hands, adding that anyone involved in acts of violence, intimidation, or looting would be arrested and prosecuted.

“The SAPS has been instructed to act decisively and without hesitation… all those found to be participating in, inciting, or supporting such criminal conduct will be identified, apprehended, and brought before the courts,” the statement added.

(Sahara Reporters)