Social media timeline of ‘Igbo king coronation’ chaos in KuGompo City

By Yossabel Chetty, CINIA Researcher.

Targeted xenophobic attacks have resulted in at least 612 deaths, 122 298 people displaced, 6 306 shops/property looted or damaged between the “notorious” antii-foreigner national flareup in 2008 until November 2021. Historically, Gauteng, Western Cape and kwaZulu-Natal have been most affected. However, this year in an early warning sign of what is to come ahead of the local elections, protest action that led to assaults and the burning of property took place in the Eastern Cape in what is now called KuGompo City (formerly East London).

On social media, information about the coronation of an Igbo King in KuGompo outraged South Africans online, who say they felt disrespected by the crowning of a monarch who was not South African. From the thousands of posts that mentioned either KuGompo, “Igbo King” or other relevant keywords, there was an overwhelming sense that ordinary South Africans were led to believe that the coronation laid some claim to real ownership in the region. Both the South African and Nigerian governments responded to confirm that this was not the case as the crowning of someone doesn’t give a legal right or status to ownership in an area.

As observed by columnist Stephen Grootes, in Daily Maverick: “This was simply a person with money who held a ceremony, had it filmed and made a nonsensical claim. He has as much claim to that title as this writer would in claiming the kingship of Nigeria. Or to be the emperor of the US.”

These responses however, appear to have come in too late to have allayed the suspicions of those who joined the protest on 30 March 2026.

Working backward from the day of the protest, the following timeline has been created to understand how the conversation about an Igbo King in KuGompo developed since 2025.

Aspects of this timeline will be further analysed to understand the impact that such occurrences will have on the local government elections taking place at the end of this year.

30 March 2026:

A movement known as March and March protests in KuGompo against someone who was allegedly crowned the Igbo King. The protest leads to violence and damage to property.
Political party ActionSA posts to Facebook that it is joining March and March against the unlawful coronation of a Nigerian King.
Leader of the African Transformation Movement party (ATM), Vuyo Zungula, condemns the coronation of a Nigerian national as Igwe Ndibo.

21 March 2026:

@MyANC and Fikile Mbalula post a video of a Human Rights Day march in KuGompo City. People in the comments refer to the coronation of the Igbo King that took place, suggesting that the ANC are tone deaf to the needs of South African citizens by hosting a human rights day event in a city that allegedly allowed a Nigerian person to be coronated.

20 March 2026:

March and March leader, Jacinta Ngobese, shares a poster of the planned “demonstration” on social media platform X:

The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (GOGTA) express their dissatisfaction with the alleged coronation.

19 March 2026:

ATM leader Vuyo Zungula condemns the installation of a Nigerian King in East London, calling it an insult to the country and its royal leadership institutions.

17 March 2026:

Jacinta Ngobese posts to X that the people of East London asked her to march and to join a WhatsApp group about the event. Details of the WhatsApp group were shared on the post for others to join. A poster is shared in the comments with details of a coronation that took place on 14 March 2026.

16 March 2025:

The TikTok account of a person who appears to be in the Eastern Cape shares videos and photos to celebrate the occasion. An AI-generated text overlay on the first video below reads “…As the new king assumes his responsibilities, there are high expectations regarding his role in promoting harmony, development, and preserving the cultural values of the region. His leadership is viewed as a crucial element in navigating contemporary challenges while honoring the past and the traditions of the ancestors. Overall, this installation not only highlights the importance of leadership within the community but also serves as a reminder of the rich cultural identity that defines the people of East London, making it a noteworthy event in South African history.”

30 July 2025

A video on YouTube shows protests that took place in Accra over the alleged crowning of an Igbo King. In the comments someone responds to the video saying “Image (sic) if this was in South Africa I will leave this to your imagination”. Initial findings suggest that the images used were of an event that took place in 2012.

Yossabel Chetty is a researcher at Stellenbosch University’s Centre for Information Integrity in Africa (CINIA), which is compiling regular reports as part of an Election Watch series. CINIA is part of a Media Observatory and Partnership on Information Integrity in Elections (PIIE) that monitors, analyses risks and supports mitigation for the upcoming elections. Working with data from the IEC, hot spots in all provinces are being tracked for regular and important updates and disinformation trends. This includes tracking xenophobic narratives and flare ups using a social media listening tool throughout 2026.