Not Wanted: Somalis in South Africa

[FarhanYare]

The attacks on Somali-owned shops spread like a wildfire through the townships around Port Elizabeth, a city on South Africa's southeastern coast.
Somali in south africa
A Somali muslim man prays at an informal refugee camp on the outskirts of Pretoria, South Africa. (Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images)


When it was over, more than 100 small businesses mostly run by Somali nationals had been looted, some destroyed by petrol bombs, and their owners driven from the area by rampaging residents.

The scale of the violence over four days in September was unusual, but xenophobic attacks on Somalis and other African migrants in South Africa's impoverished townships are all too common.

Many people accuse “foreigners” of taking their jobs, or of putting South African shopkeepers out of business by undercutting their prices.

Xenophobic violence in South Africa drew international attention in 2008, when riots targeting black African immigrants spread through townships around Johannesburg and elsewhere in the country, leaving more than 60 people dead and thousands displaced.

Since then, sporadic incidents have continued, though they have received little attention.

Amir Sheikh, chairperson of the Somali Community Board of South Africa, said that around a hundred Somali nationals are murdered every year in this country, most of them shopkeepers in the townships.


Sheikh said that young Somalis who sought asylum in South Africa to escape Al Shabaab, the militant group that still dominates large areas of Somalia, and to seek better opportunities, are now moving back home to escape the violence.

“Many of them realize that this dream is just an illusion, and if they are to die it is better to die back home,” he said. “There is no difference between Mogadishu and the townships of South Africa.”

The September attacks in Port Elizabeth were sparked by accusations that a Somali shopkeeper had shot and killed a 19-year-old South African man in a dispute over cell phone airtime.

However the complaint may have been flimsy, as the shopkeeper accused of the murder was later released by police due to a lack of evidence.

Facing pressure over the continuing violence, the South African deputy minister of foreign affairs in June met with Somali community leaders and promised to launch a program to bring together local and foreign business owners.

But according to Sheikh, nothing has happened since the meeting.

“What we are getting from the South African government is lip service,” he said.

Last month Elizabeth Thabethe, South Africa’s deputy trade and industry minister, drew criticism for her comments about foreign migrants running small shops in the townships, known here as “spaza shops.”

“You still find many spaza shops with African names, but when you go in to buy you find your Mohammeds and most of them are not even registered,” the South African Press Association quoted her as saying.

Sheikh said that apart from the attacks on township shops, institutionalized xenophobia exists in South Africa, with African migrants facing discrimination at schools and hospitals.

“It’s not only in the townships but even in the government offices,” he said.

A report titled “Somalinomics” released last week by the Johannesburg-based African Center for Migration and Society argued that foreign-owned businesses create economic benefits to local communities.

Foreign-owned spaza shops — local convenience stores often run from homes — help consumers by providing better, more flexible services, and cheaper products, the report said.

“Both government and individuals are quick to turn their frustrations with economic hardships against foreign businesses,” Roni Amit, a senior researcher, said in a statement.

“In fact, many South African consumers would be in a far more precarious position without these shops,” Amit said.

“Unfortunately, the dominant voices are often those of competing shopkeepers who turn to xenophobic sentiments to veil their reluctance to adopt competitive practices that make everyone better off.”

[STARKAST]

As they say they were better off under English rule....................

[BigBreak]

this is the result of qabyaalad - refugees fleeing to all places #sad

[FarhanYare]

As they say they were better off under English rule....................

dutch rule is what you are looking for. The english are softies

[BigBreak]

colonialism is out of fashion farhanyare.........why would europeans want to breathe the same air as these zulu wife beaters let alone come to zulu territory

[Basra-]

Have u heard of the term 'adoon waa badoow'? LOOOOL the real specie of adoon lives in south Africa. Go watch God must be crazy, comical but realistic in the animalistic comics of adoons. I don't pity Somalis--- they need to go out of south Africa, or face death in the hands of supreme monkeys. Nothing like jealousy of an adoon, he will cut your head and make a good stew out of it.

[FarhanYare]

Have u heard of the term 'adoon waa badoow'? LOOOOL the real specie of adoon lives in south Africa. Go watch God must be crazy, comical but realistic in the animalistic comics of adoons. I don't pity Somalis--- they need to go out of south Africa, or face death in the hands of supreme monkeys. Nothing like jealousy of an adoon, he will cut your head and make a good stew out of it.

very true indeed. ayaga ayaa meesha lagu gowrici laha isdigay

[KartiHaween]

LOL@ make a good stew out of it.

[FarhanYare]

What's missing from the skinnies in South Africa, is that there is no sense of F*** my life is worth more than this business i have invested $10k, $20k, etc and should gtfo before the adoons chop me in to pieces.

[Arabman]

A great injustice is going in SA. While the local people continue to suffer from apartheid (it never ended), poverty, hunger, lack of shelter and medical care, living in ghettos--the minority cadaan colonialists enjoy the wealth (including gold, diamond) of the country and everything else. People talk about 2013 with its technological advancements as if there are no social ills, but human beings will always be human beings. The truth is, South Africa is still being colonized.

[Basra-]

arabman

Really? r u going to sit there and sympathize with the animals who are slaughtering Somalis? r u seriously going to bring up 'apartheid' in a discussion of a marathon of Somali genocide? R u dumb? Do u NOT realize u r in a Somali forum? I always assumed u were less than smart but now it is evident u don't even like Somalis. Yet here you are, in somalinet forums-- day and night! R u a spy?

[CilmiDoone]

Have u heard of the term 'adoon waa badoow'? LOOOOL the real specie of adoon lives in south Africa. Go watch God must be crazy, comical but realistic in the animalistic comics of adoons. I don't pity Somalis--- they need to go out of south Africa, or face death in the hands of supreme monkeys. Nothing like jealousy of an adoon, he will cut your head and make a good stew out of it.

Dont mock Allah's creation you ignorant little minx.

[kambuli]

Even though I am enraged about what is happening to our people, I would like to know when will we accept our share of the blame? Who chased these people to South Africa? Why would our people need to flee to other countries? We have a beautiful country, we shouldn't be under the mercy of these animals We are worse than these animals as long as we are under their mercy...

[jamal9]

Problem: Why dont them somalis open their business in somalia?
Answer: More savages exist in somalia than in SA.
Solution: Kill all al-kababs, kill all pirates, kill all mooriyaans.
Result: Peace in Somalia for all Somalis

[LiquidHYDROGEN]

Problem: Why dont them somalis open their business in somalia?
Answer: More savages exist in somalia than in SA.
Solution: Kill all al-kababs, kill all pirates, kill all mooriyaans.
Result: Peace in Somalia for all Somalis

But that would take the population of Somalia down to 5 people.