Police have arrested 69 people after looting broke out at an anti-immigrant march in Jeffreys Bay.
Police spokeswoman Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana said on Friday that the March and March protest planned for Oceanview turned violent on Thursday morning.
Those arrested were aged between 18 and 52 and face charges of public violence.
Gantana said more arrests were possible as the investigation continued.
“At least 23 spaza shops were looted, with several foreign nationals placed in a temporary shelter for their safety,” she said.
One person was injured and taken to hospital.
The suspects will appear in the Humansdorp Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
“The situation at this stage is still unstable; however, police visibility is intensified,” Gantana said.
She said police had reinforced personnel and deployed additional law enforcement resources in the Kouga region.
Eastern Cape provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Vuyisile Ncata said manpower had been bolstered in the district.
“We are calling on local leaders to address residents so that they can act responsibly and within the bounds of the law,” Ncata said.
“Police will not hesitate to act on lawlessness.”
The Jeffreys Bay violence forms part of a nationwide anti-immigration campaign that has run for weeks.
March and March has committed to marching every Thursday until the government tightens border controls and acts on undocumented migrants.
The movement’s leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, addressed thousands in Durban on June 30, the group’s self-imposed deadline for undocumented migrants to leave the country.
More than 900 people were arrested nationally around that date.
One person was shot dead in Alexandra during the looting of foreign-owned spaza shops, and two others, including a 17-year-old, were injured in a Hillbrow shooting that prompted a soldier deployment.
Jeffreys Bay residents had already marched under the “Abahambe” banner, meaning “they must go”, ahead of June 30.
Police minister Firoz Cachalia announced a R600m police operation before that date, with SAPS deployed across all nine provinces.
The campaign has since spread to Garankuwa, Mthwalume, KuGompo City and Olievenhoutbosch, with organisers targeting both documented and undocumented foreign traders.
Nearly 150,000 people have left SA in recent weeks, according to an AFP tally based on figures from African countries that have repatriated their nationals.
The SA Spaza and Tuck-Shop Association has said it has no contingency plan to replace thousands of foreign-owned spaza shops if they are forced to shut.
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