Media: Somali shopkeeper murdered

2011-04-18 05:46:02 – Voice of the Cape

Following shortly after the assault on a Somali shopkeeper in Delft, a 25-year old Somali shopkeeper was gunned down by robbers inside his shop in Khalyitsha. According to a relative of the deceased, Muhammad Abdullah, (seen here) two robbers stormed into a tuck shop owned by his cousin, Aweis Muhammad Mwalin, and shot him dead.

“I came to visit my cousin when the robbers struck. They shot me on the head, but I did not die,” Abdullah told VOC at the weekend. He said he was helping his cousin to count stock inside the shop at about 9:30 pm on Thursday night, when the thugs broke the door of the shop and got inside.

“As soon as the robbers entered the shop, they demanded that my cousin gives them money. When he said he did not have money in the shop, he was shot twice in the head. Then they shot me in the head. Luckily I survived.” However, his cousin was not so lucky. He was laid to rest on Friday at the Athlone makbaray.

Police in Khayelitsha confirmed the incident to VOC in a telephone interview. “We are investigating the murder of Mwalin and we hope that we shall soon arrest whoever was involved,” a police officer stated. This month several Somali owned shops have been attacked in the Cape flats area.

Media: Deal aims to stop xenophobia

2009-08-19 15:38:40 – Voice of the Cape

Local and Somali shopkeepers on Tuesday signed a landmark deal which is expected t bring peace between the two side that were at loggerheads for several months due to competition and business rivalry. It is hoped that the deal that was signed on Tuesday would help to avert xenophobia-related violence in Gugulethu, Philippi and Samora Machel. Both groups have agreed that this deal is meant to be a blueprint for other small businesses in other communities and will help them prevent a repeat of last year’s xenophobic pogroms.

Media: Gugulethu shopkeepers solves the prices dispute

By Nomava Nobumba – Bush Radio

19 August 2009

A deadlock between local and Somali shopkeepers, regarding trade prices in Gugulethu has been resolved after an agreement was signed yesterday.

Media: CTN most receptive for foreigners

2009-08-14 06:01:00 – VOCFM

Mncedisi Twalo (left) of the Anti Eviction Campaign tries to explain a point to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee’s senior Liaison officer Dr. Lawrence Mbagson, who chaired Thursday’s meeting convened in Guguletu to diffuse worrying rising tensions between local traders and Somali shop owners in the townships.

Cape Town is the most receptive and friendly city towards foreigners. That is according to the senior liaison officer of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Dr Lawrence Mbangson who based his comment on his personal experience and research. At the same time, he said that the Mother City has not the most welcoming community in South Africa, because the UNHCR has not recorded high cases of abuse in Cape Town compared to other cities in the country.

Media: Somali and Gugulethu shop owners reach compromise

Malungelo Booi – Eyewitness News

Somali shop owners and their Gugulethu counterparts are expected to sign an agreement which will put an end to intimidation of Somalis.

Media: Bid to ‘extinguish’ attacks on Somalis

July 26, 2009 Edition 1
VUYO MABANDLA – Cape Argus

A meeting is to be held today in Gugulethu in a bid to reduce tensions and “extinguish” a rise in xenophobic abuse of Somali traders by locals.

This comes after a series of attacks in Samora Machel last week in which seven Somali shops were forcefully closed down by local traders.

AEC hosts another anti-xenophobia meeting as we continue to be misrepresented in the media

Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Release

24 July 2009

Below we have included information about Sunday’s anti-xenophobia meeting. But first, as the Anti-Eviction Campaign, we would like to express our concern over continued misrepresentation of its activists in the media.

An article written a few weeks ago in the Die Burger by Nurene Jassiem entitled Xenofobiese Geweld: Somaliers ‘kry steun’ incorrectly implied that AEC coordinator Mncedisi Twalo felt that Somalians were the cause of strife amongst local businesses. When contacted, they refused to apologise or retract the implication.

This week, Mncedisi was again misrepresented when City Vision journalist Linda Kubeni wrote an article saying that Mr. Twalo is the leader of the local Gugulethu Business Forum. As an chairperson of the Gugulethu Anti-Eviction Campaign, this blatantly untrue statement undermines Mncedisi’s role as an independent mediator between local businesses and Somali traders. The xenophobia issue is a very sensitive matter and such untruths threaten to derail the mediation. As the AEC, we expect an immediate apology and correction.

Xenophobia: Local businesses in Samora Machel have forcefully closed down 3 Somalian shops

Urgent Anti-Eviction Press Release

Monday 20 July, 2009

Local businesses in Samora Machel, Kosovo and some other areas have been struggling for years. They are now angry and are unfortunately taking out that anger on the poor and also struggling Somalian traders who have set up shop in their communities.

While the Anti-Eviction Campaign was called in to mediate between local and foreign-owned businesses in Samora Machel as it has done successfully in Gugulethu, the local business owners and traders have refused mediation efforts and taken to the streets attempting to evict Somalian traders who they feel are operating to near to their own businesses. They have now forcefully evicted 3 businesses in Samora Machel

The Anti-Eviction Campaign wishes to make clear that it is 100% against the actions of the local businesspeople of Samora Machel and nearby areas in Philippi. The AEC denounces all forms of poor-on-poor violence as unacceptable.

Media: Gugulethu, Somali traders to hold follow-up meeting

July 07, 2009 Edition 1

Staff Writer – Cape Times

GUGULETHU and Somali shopkeepers will hold a follow-up mass meeting tomorrowto cement peace efforts following threats to renew the xenophobic violence of a year ago which displaced 20 000 refugees and migrants.

Anti-xenophobic negotiations moving along despite interference by certain outside divisive people

Gugulethu Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Release

06 July 2009

On the 1^st of July 2009, local business and Somali shopkeepers began implementation of preliminary aspects of the deal sought to ease xenophobic tensions between the two groups.  The joint committee with the support of the Anti-Eviction Campaign distributed copies of the deal to all shops in the area.  Shopkeepers then began to move their shops at least 100 meters away from one another – the deadline for this action being the end of July.

On Wednesday, the 8^th of July at 15h30, the AEC will mediate a follow-up mass meeting of local businesses and Somali shopkeepers.

In addition, the local and provincial ministries of economics and tourism added proposals to provide skills training scholarships to a paltry 23 local businesspeople throughout the entire Western Cape.  Local in Gugulethu have rejected this proposal as insulting and merely a PR campaign by government.