No compromise! foreigners must leave! - Anti-migrant protesters demand shop closures in South Africa

Anti-migrant protesters marched through the streets of South Africa's Eastern Cape on Tuesday, forcing foreign-owned businesses to close and local employees to leave. Footage from King Williams Town shows protesters marching with South African flags, chanting slogans before confronting foreign shop owners. "We are not going to hurt anyone, we are not going to shut down any shop, but all the foreign national shops; we want them closed. We have no compromise around that," March and March citizen-led movement's chairperson, Siseko Xatula, said. Demonstrators urged police to help shut the businesses. "If we find shops closed like this, we are begging the police to assist us a person will free their shop at the police station with documents," stated a protester. South Africans renting space in the affected shops said they had been caught in the middle. "This strike really is an inconvenience," said one salon tenant. "I am South African. I don't know what to do because I am running my own business, even though I am renting the shop from a foreign national." "Where are we going to get money for rent? This whole thing just adds to the unemployment that we are trying to fight with the government. So it's not fair," added another immigrant. Several African governments have prepared contingency plans and repatriation operations for their citizens as fears grow of further unrest. President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned attacks on foreign nationals, saying crime should be addressed through law enforcement rather than vigilantism. The United Nations has also voiced concern over rising violence and intimidation targeting migrants.