Polokwane – Police have arrested five South Africans accused of unlawfully trying to force a Nigerian businessman in Marapong Township, Lephalale, Limpopo, to close shop and leave the country.
Narrating events leading to the arrests, police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said on Wednesday, 9 July 2026, the suspects went to a Lounge business owned by a Nigerian.
The group of community members confronted the Nigerian at his business and instructed him to close it, claiming that, as a foreign national, he had no right to operate a business in South Africa.
“The group allegedly threatened to destroy his business and demanded that he leave the country,” Colonel Ledwaba said on Monday, 13 July 2026.
The Nigerian was subsequently escorted to the Department of Home Affairs offices in Lephalale, where his immigration documents were verified and confirmed to be valid.
Thereafter, the Nigerian businessman opened a case of intimidation at Lephalale Police Station.
“Acting on information received, members of Lephalale Visible Policing, Detectives and Public Order Policing, conducted a planned tactical operation targeting suspects allegedly involved in the incident,” said Colonel Ledwaba.
“During the operation, five suspects, aged between 20 and 58, were arrested at different residential addresses in Marapong Township.”
The suspects face charges related to intimidation, incitement of violence and impersonating Home Affairs officials.
One of the suspects will also face an additional charge linked to a separate intimidation case.
“Preliminary investigations indicate that the suspects were allegedly among the instigators mobilising community members against undocumented foreign nationals and encouraging the unlawful removal of foreign nationals from the township,” said the police spokesperson.
Acting Provincial Commissioner of the Police in Limpopo, Major General Jan Scheepers, warned that no individual or community group is authorised to enforce immigration laws or conduct inspections of identity or immigration documents.
“Such functions are the sole responsibility of duly authorised law enforcement and government officials,” stated Major General Scheepers.
“Community members are encouraged to report any concerns regarding undocumented persons to the relevant authorities and refrain from taking the law into their own hands.”
The arrested suspects are expected to appear before the Lephalale Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 15 July 2026.
At the weekend, during an Inter-Ministerial Committee update, Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi stated: “Government reiterates that the management of immigration, border management, deportation and facilitated repatriation is the exclusive responsibility of the State.
“No individual or group has the authority to take the law into their own hands or to intimidate, threaten or unlawfully remove any person from any community.”
The Justice Minister added that law enforcement had registered 205 cases countrywide, arrested 350 suspects, and placed 112 cases on the court roll for intimidation, incitement, and unlawful conduct linked to anti-foreigner vigilantism.
