As the country celebrates Africa Day, Somali and Ethiopian shopkeepers say they have nothing to celebrate.
|||As the country celebrates Africa Day, Somali and Ethiopian shopkeepers say they have nothing to celebrate after being chased away from their homes and having their shops looted.
On Thursday, a parking lot in Bellville became an unofficial meeting place as community leader Thomas Chamiso and a group of about 20 shop owners gathered to list their grievances.
All the shopkeepers used to live in Khayelitsha’s Town Two informal settlement until the recent spate of attacks and looting which, they say, started last week.
Chamiso, an Ethiopian community leader, said people had started calling him and arriving at his home asking for help. “They said people came with guns and pangas and vandalised their shops. And they started running away. Because they had nowhere else to go, they came here. But there are a lot of people still in Khayelitsha,” he said.
Three spaza shops belonging to the refugees had been vandalised. “People lost everything. The food in their shops is expiring. In some houses, the fridges and groceries were also taken.”
Chamiso said he had laid charges at the Bellville police station and had been told that the cases would be transferred to Khayelitsha for investigation. In the meantime, the refugees have nowhere to go.
Zedin Sayfu said his spaza shop had been closed for two weeks and this meant he had lost R15 000 in profit.
He said a group of men had come to his shop and started looting before telling them to leave and never come back. They had been told their shops were too cheap and were responsible for killing local businesses.
The group have put together a petition in which they ask the police and the government to intervene.
Chamiso also added that local residents had supported the spaza shop owners and tried to protect them during the attacks.
Police spokesman November Philander said police were investigating and that they were also patrolling the area.
neo.maditla@inl.co.za
Cape Argus