The suspects were handcuffed during a multidisciplinary law enforcement intelligence-driven operation.
Picture: iStock
Police in Limpopo have arrested five suspects accused of intimidation, inciting violence and posing as Home Affairs officials, after a Nigerian business owner in Marapong Township was threatened and ordered to shut down his lounge.
The suspects were handcuffed during a multidisciplinary law-enforcement, reactive, tactical and intelligence-driven operation conducted in Marapong Township, Lephalale, in the early hours of Monday, 13 July 2026.
Foreign national
Police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said their arrests follow an incident reported on Wednesday, 09 July 2026.
“The owner of a Lounge, a Nigerian national, alleged that a group of community members confronted him 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.”
Threats
Ledwaba said the group allegedly threatened to destroy his business and demanded that he leave the country.
“The complainant was subsequently escorted to the Department of Home Affairs offices in Lephalale, where his immigration documents were verified and confirmed to be valid. He thereafter opened a case of intimidation at Lephalale Police Station.”
Arrests
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.
Ledwaba said during the operation, five suspects, aged between 20 and 58, were arrested at different residential addresses in Marapong Township.
“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.
“The suspects were identified through ongoing investigations, including the analysis,” Ledwaba said.
Immigration laws
Ledwaba said the Acting Provincial Commissioner of the Police in Limpopo, Major General Jan Scheepers, reiterated 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. 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.”
Court
The five suspects are expected to appear before the Lephalale Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 15 July 2026.
Police investigations continue.
