Tensions have escalated in parts of Eastern Cape, South Africa, following protests against the reported installation of a Nigerian traditional ruler in the region, with incidents of violence and property destruction recorded.
According to emerging reports, demonstrators took to the streets in areas including kuGumbo, where protests initially began as opposition to the coronation.
The situation turned violent as some protesters allegedly torched vehicles and targeted properties believed to belong to foreign nationals.
Police sources confirmed that multiple vehicles were damaged during the unrest, though the full extent of destruction and ownership of affected properties remains unclear.
Eyewitness accounts and circulating footage suggest that buildings linked to foreign nationals were also attacked, amid growing anti-immigrant sentiment in the area.
What began as a peaceful demonstration in KuGompo City escalated into chaos on Monday, with vehicles set on fire and buildings damaged. Protesters condemned the alleged coronation of a Nigerian man as a local king. A man was also allegedly stabbed during protests, as reported by IOL.
Police spokeswoman Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana confirmed that police had responded to the scene. “The protest began as a planned peaceful demonstration by various traditional leaders over the alleged coronation of an Igbo king,” she said.
“Violence broke out when some participants moved away from the city hall, where a petition was being handed over. Twelve vehicles have been damaged, and several buildings have been torched. Emergency services, including the fire department, remain on the scene, along with the Public Order Policing Unit. This is an active scene, and updates information will be shared in due course.”
A man was allegedly stabbed in the back by a foreign national and taken to the hospital. Gantana said the man was not part of the march. “The stabbed person is not linked to the march,” she said. March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, however, said on Facebook that it was one of her members who had been stabbed. She said the member was also knocked down by a car.
Several groups, including ActionSA, the Patriotic Alliance, civic movement March and March, and several traditional leaders, joined the demonstration, condemning the ceremony as unlawful. ActionSA Eastern Cape leader Athol Trollip previously told IOL there was no constitutional provision for any foreigner, legal or illegal, to coronate themselves in the Eastern Cape.
“We do not support that,” he said. “We support the existing local kings in the Eastern Cape, of which we have five, and no Nigerian kings.”
PA spokesperson Steve Motale said, “We condemn that fake coronation. We are happy that even the Nigeria High Commissioner in SA has also condemned it.”
The Royal House of AbaThembu, in a statement to IOL, previously denied reports on social media that King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo welcomed and granted royalty to the Nigerian national. He said he was not involved.
AbaThembu royal ambassador and senior royal advisor Adv Matthew Mpahlwa said the claims come from “sick and depraved minds.” “The Royal House of AbaThembu wishes to distance itself from the trending social media posts and pictures purporting to portray King Dalindyebo as welcoming and officially granting royalty to a particular Nigerian national,” Mpahlwa said.
The protests are reportedly linked to local resistance against the recognition or installation of a Nigerian traditional leader, with some groups questioning the legitimacy and implications of such a move within South Africa’s traditional leadership structures.
The unrest comes against a broader backdrop of rising anti-foreigner tensions in South Africa, where previous demonstrations have called for stricter immigration controls and have, at times, led to violence targeting migrants, including Nigerians.
