Sreaming and the sound of shots flare up in the background while scores of petrified foreigners, fear evident in their eyes, run out of the dark informal settlement as police helicopters hover above.
A year later: it's daytime, all is calm in Du Noon and children can be heard playing.
But a Somali man stands alone in his shop with the fearful look still in his eyes, and he flinches as a group of locals walk by, talking loudly.
| 'No, they don't belong here. They should go' |
On May 22 last year xenophobic violence spread to the Western Cape and erupted in the Du Noon informal settlement, with locals forcing foreign nationals to flee.
By the next day the violence had spread to a number of settlements and three days later at least 20 000 foreigners had been forced from their homes. Currently, although the situation has stabilised and the majority of foreigners have returned to the settlements, many fear that simmering tensions may lead to similar violence.
A meeting was held in Gugulethu this week to discuss these fears and last week two Somali men burnt to death in their shop in Darling in what locals believe was a xenophobic attack.
Speaking from his Du Noon shop, which was trashed during last year's violence, Mohamed said he still felt uneasy about being back in the settlement. "Sometimes the people around here tell me to get out. Right now it's okay but I'm scared the same like last year will happen," he said.
Mohamed stayed at the Blue Waters safety camp for three months but then returned to Du Noon as he "had nowhere else to go".
Further down the road, a Somali shopkeeper, standing behind a thick wire grid barring people from entering his shop, shook his head when asked about the violence. "I don't want to think about that. Ever," was all he would say.
In Gugulethu, shop owner Hassan Abdi said although locals bought items from him, they sometimes told him to "get out" of the area.
Mncedisi Twalo, an Anti-Eviction Campaign spokesperson, said yesterday locals had been complaining that they were losing business to foreigners. "Some say they are prepared to act violently to get back their business," he said.
Police spokesperson Elliot Sinyangana said more police officers were being deployed in case violence broke out. Meanwhile, in Nyanga a local woman selling aprons said she felt foreigners in the area should "just be left alone".
As she said this, though, a friend shook her head and said: "No, they don't belong here. They should go." Three others nodded in agreement.
- Cape Times
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