A significant disturbance took place in Kraaifontein this week when around 700 learners from Masibambane High School and Hector Peterson High School took to the streets demanding that foreign nationals leave their schools and the country.

Video footage circulated on social media showed learners in school uniform vandalising property, assaulting a foreign national, throwing bricks at passing vehicles, and looting fruit stalls.The unrest extended to Thursday, targeting fruit traders in the community.An 18-year-old teen appeared at Kuils River Magistrate’s Court in connection with the riot.

Mawethu Sila, chairperson of the Kraaifontein Community Police Forum, condemned the actions, emphasising that the riots should not be compared to the 1976 Soweto student uprising.

Sila stressed that the learners were not equipped to distinguish between legal and illegal migrants and urged proper engagement with authorities instead of taking the law into their own hands.The Western Cape Education Department confirmed that the schools involved will handle disciplinary measures internally.

The incident reflects ongoing anti-migrant tensions in Cape Town and across South Africa, raising concerns about community safety, the role of schools in instilling civic responsibility, and the need for lawful channels to address grievances.