New gang leaders trying to popularise themselves are behind the spate of attacks on foreign shopkeepers in Cape Town, according to the Western Cape branch of the Somali Association of SA.
The association said on Thursday that “Somali-phobia” was to blame for the latest attacks on foreign-owned shops in Valhalla Park and Beacon Valley in Mitchells Plain.
Chairman Abdikadir Mohamed said the association’s members in Valhalla Park have been told that new gang leaders who were trying to “stamp their authority” in the area were behind attacks on Somali-owned shops on Tuesday.
He said it was disappointing that police stood by while shops were being looted in Valhalla Park this week.
On Thursday, four more shops were petrol-bombed in Beacon Valley.
“The violence starts in one area and because Somalis and refugees have no one to stand up for them, the violence will start to spread. I don’t call it xenophobia. I call it Afrophobia, or even Somali-phobia, because it does not affect anyone who is not African,” Mohamed said.
He said most of the shop owners had fled to Bellville where they were staying with family and friends while they waited for the situation in the communities to change.
The Police Ministry was quick to quell any suggestions of xenophobia, saying it was looking at a multifaceted approach to tackle the problem, which involved working with civil society.
Zweli Mnisi, spokesman for Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, said: “There are other challenges which the government is looking into because you have a situation of socio-economic challenges in the country… which we are not going to ignore, and one of them has to do with the regulation of trade between small and informal businesses.
“Some of the tension arises as a result of some competition, particularly at that level… in a normal situation shopkeepers or spaza shop owners will be in competition for prices, but because it happens with other nationals (foreigners), it becomes an issue. We are going to be ensuring that it is dealt with.”
Community Safety MEC Dan Plato said: “The SAPS will have to stop people from looting and threatening spaza shop owners before it spills over into other communities, which is what appears to be already happening.
“The police need to take control of this situation before it is out of their grasp, they need to make arrests, and these people need to appear in court to account for their actions.”
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