South Africa: Residents protect Somali traders from local business owners

Residents in Khayelitsha came to the defence of Somali traders when local business owners threatened to burn down the Somali-owned shops. In an attempt to enforce a 2008 agreement between Zanokhanyo Retailers Association and Somalian shopkeepers following that year’s xenophobic attacks that no new Somali-owned shops would open, local business owners in Harare threatened to burn down Somali shops to force their closure. But local residents stood in front of the nine shops under threat, preventing the local business owners from taking action.