“People Are Just Hungry”: SA Reacts After Man Warns Spaza Shop Owner About 30 June in TikTok Video

A South African man walked to a Somali-owned spaza shop and issued a bold warning on camera. He told the shopkeeper that a group of people would return on 30 June to take everything in the store. The Somali owner did not flinch and dared him to try.

The confrontation was captured in a TikTok video posted by NewsNexusOfficial on 27 May 2026. It came as anti-immigration tensions across South Africa reached a boiling point ahead of the June deadline.

A nation divided over who shops where

The clip quickly drew strong reactions from South Africans online. Many people pointed out a contradiction that was hard to ignore. For years, South Africans have accused foreign-owned spaza shops of selling expired and dangerous food. Now the same stores were being threatened with looting, not closure.

The irony did not go unnoticed by commenters, who questioned why anyone would want to eat from a shop they considered unsafe.

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This tension is playing out against a bigger national crisis. A civic group called March and March has issued an ultimatum demanding that undocumented foreigners leave South Africa by 30 June. The group has accused them of being involved in crime. According to reports, March and March member Sandile Dube says the government does not take South Africans seriously, and the shutdown will go ahead.

The South African Police Service has confirmed it is prepared and ready for whatever happens on 30 June.

Watch the TikTok clip below:

More about March and March

• Former MK Party Whip Colleen Makhubela has condemned a chant sang by “March and March” protesters on Monday.
• Members of the MK Party and March and March movement arrived at Diakonia Centre, where hundreds of foreign nationals remained camped at the site.
• A group known as the March of March staged a protest in Pinetown, voicing strong views on foreign nationals following recent demonstrations in Durban.

Source: Briefly News