South Africa

August 2006

  
Somali refugees in the Western Cape, (Cape Argus, 2006-08-26):-Teenager Fazal Mohamed fled war-torn Somalia for South Africa in search of a better life - only to be subjected to a prison-like working and living environment. The Barako Cash and Carry shop in Gugulethu's L3A Small Business Centre, where he works, is sealed by burglar bars. It is the 19-year-old's job to pass parcels to customers waiting outside through a small gap. Instead of being pleased when people come to the shop, he gets nervous as they may turn out to be robbers or even killers, like those who murdered the 26 other Somalis who have died in the Western Cape this year. This has left many refugees from this East African country living in fear. As Ahmed Khalif, who runs the Nabe supermarket in Langa, put it: "We no longer ask one another 'how are you' or 'how is the business doing?'. We speak about how many Somalis have died the day before and wonder when out turn will come ... We expect to be killed any time." Many of his countrymen believe that they are targeted in black areas and are much safer in coloured and white communities in Cape Town. The spate of killings comes at the same time as a report was released claiming Africans were the worse racists of all South Africans, and that their main targets were other Africans, often immigrants and refugees. Although Somalis believe they are being deliberately targeted, others believe differently. Police and some community organisations have said Somalis were simply being hit by criminals, like everyone else. Many of the major supermarkets in the black residential areas such as Khayelitsha, Nyanga and Langa are now run by Somalis. These businesses were previously operated by local Africans who gave up due to either crime, stiff competition from the big retail supermarkets who have opened township outlets, or became bankrupt because of bad business practices. In 2002 there was a spate of killings of black businessmen running shops in Khayelitsha. In those incidents nothing was stolen. At the time other businessmen alleged that jealousy of business success was behind the killings. Khalif and Mohamed first went to live in Port Elizabeth but were driven away by robberies and came to Cape Town. But only three hours after arriving in the city, Khalif, 22, was robbed of his cell phone and cash during a robbery by three men at his friend's shop in Philippi. Crime forced him to close his shop in Khayelitsha and re-open the Nabe shop in Langa. Close to 20 local people work for him but he believes locals think "we are taking their opportunities". Asked about why other African refugees like those from the Democratic Republic of Congo were not attacked, he said Somalis tended to live in close communities and run more lucrative businesses than those from other countries. He had sent his wife back to Mogadishu because he feared for her life. "I'm waiting for my turn to die," he said. While Khalif wants also to return to Somalia, Mohamed said he intend to remain in South Africa. His mother had been killed in Somalia earlier this year. "I can't return to Somalia, there is war up there. I want to stay here. I like to work here." But he does not like living as a prisoner. Nomfundo Moshani of the SA National Civics Organisation said crime was high across the board in the Western Cape and Somalis were targeted because they were successful. She said communities should reinforce the culture of good neighbourliness, get to know each another and protect each other, including the foreigners. Western Cape police failed to respond to questions sent to them that could shed light on the exact number of Somali deaths and whether there have been any arrests in connection with these. Police spokesman Billy Jones confirmed that five Somalis had been killed this month, four in Khayelitsha and one in Mfuleni. No one has been arrested but the investigations were continuing, he said.  
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp