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Somalia`s New Tongue Twisting Names
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Reports Allege `Civil War` being Waged among Rival Somali Groups in E. Cape
Times Live
Tuesday, June 7, 2011



 
Somali nationals demonstrate outside Parliament in Cape Town against recent xenophobic attacks, and call for the United Nations High Commission on refugees to take over the running of relief centres, June 2, 2008. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings (SOUTH AFRICA)


Report by Bongani Fuzile: “SA Imports Somali `Silent War`”


South Africa is playing host to an ethnic civil war that claims the lives of Somalian nationals daily.


In the Eastern Cape, Somalis of rival ethnic groups are waging what some call a “silent war”, “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing”.


Nearly 100,000 Somalis live in South Africa and more than 200 enter the country daily, according to a Somali official working for the department of home affairs.


“We`ve got warlords who enter this country undetected. Some of them are here on a mission,” said the official.


In a two-month investigation, the Daily Dispatch found Somalis in the Eastern Cape battling each other for business territory and South Africans being roped in to assist.


An alleged hit list of Somalis to be killed by their compatriots has been sent to East London police for investigation. The police confirmed receipt of the “hit list”, but said they were unaware it could be part of the battle among Somalis.


Yusuf Ibrahim, spokesman for the East London branch of the Somali Association of South Africa, established to advance the interests locally based Somalis, confirmed the existence of a hit-list.


“We also know that there`s a hitman in the country from Zambia. The problem here is a misunderstanding within us, the Somali community,” said Ibrahim.


Ethnic tension pits those of Ethiopian origin, better known as Ogadenes or Somalian Ethiopians, against those who consider themselves authentic Somalians.


Somalia`s civil war started in the early 1990s when traditional leaders attempted to oust the government. Rebel group Al Shabab later took over the country, imposing Islamic law. Many of those against it were killed or fled.


Most Ogadenes in South Africa are staunch Muslims and see those who fled as defying Islamic rule.


At the heart of the fight over who is entitled to recognition as authentic Somalis is the right to claim asylum status.


Somalis use asylum status as a ticket to establish businesses that have spread in villages, townships and informal settlements throughout the country. The department of home affairs is expected to prioritise asylum seekers from war-torn countries. But Somalis told the Daily Dispatch the department was giving Ogadenes asylum status as authentic Somalians.


Ogadenes feel they have a right to trade in South Africa regardless of their asylum status.


A departmental employee, of Somali origin, said its screening process was “flawed” and fuelling ethnic clashes.


In the past two years, over 100 Somalis in the Eastern Cape have allegedly been murdered in hits.


Port Elizabeth and East London have over 400 graves of Somalians murdered in recent years. Somalians say they were killed by Somalis or hired hitmen.


Thousands of illegal firearms have been bought to fight this war.


Somali human rights activist Mahamoud Abdi Diiriye said hatred between the two groups was fast leading to “genocide in a foreign country”. Three Somalis a week were “killed silently” in South Africa by trained Somalians and hired locals paid from R5,000.


Eastern Cape police spokesman Brigadier Marinda Mills said: “There are fights between these people, mainly for business territory. About the war, our teams have not discovered anything.”


(Description of Source: Johannesburg Times Live in English -- Combined website of the credible privately-owned daily and weekly newspapers The Times and Sunday Times, with an emphasis on news from South Africa. The site also features multimedia and blogs. URL: www.timeslive.co.za)


© Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights reserved.


Somali shopkeepers meet police over fears
grace huang
Cape
Times
June 06, 2011


 
Somali nationals demonstrate outside the Parliament in Cape Town against recent xenophobic attacks, and call for the United Nations High Commission on refugees to take over the running of relief centres, June 2, 2008. REUTERS


SOMALI shopkeepers in Gugulethu, nervous about possible xenophobic attacks, met police yesterday to voice their concerns.


“They don`t know when the locals will loot their stores and chase them away,” said Mncedisi Twualo, chairman of the Anti-Eviction Campaign (AEC) in the Western Cape,.


He and other Somali shopkeepers who went to the Gugulethu police station said that protests from locals and negative sentiment had increased recently, responding in particular to the proliferation of Somali shops in the area.


“They`ll say: `You Somalis, why do you open your stores here?`” said Baska Cusnan, a Somali shopkeeper who has been in South Africa for six years.


“Somalis can stay in the townships and enjoy lives in the townships, but they can`t run shops here - they must run them in town. That`s some of the feelings we`re running into,” Twualo said.


An agreement between the Somali and local communities in August 2009, which the AEC and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Cape Town helped negotiate, had several stipulations for Somali business in the area.


Among them were that Somali stores had to be 100m from local stores, and that Somalis could request to have new shops, “if the opportunity arises”, only if the local community agreed to it.


There must also be uniform price ranges, a ratio of about seven local shops to every three Somali shops, and the sharing of Somali trading expertise and knowledge with the community.


According to Twualo and the Somalis who met with police, some new Somali immigrants are violating the regulations by opening new stores without agreement from the community. Twualo estimated that in some areas there is at least one Somali shop per street.


Cusnan wanted the harassing of Somali shopkeepers to stop.


But he and the other shopkeepers there who have lived in South Africa for years said they didn`t want new shops or new Somalis breaking the rules.


“We (Somalis) work together, stay together - no problem,” he said. “The new shops are a problem.”


The AEC said it would mobilise its members to protect shopkeepers should xenophobic attacks break out.


© Copyright 2011 Independent Newspapers (UK) Limited. All rights reserved.


Somalis still searching for peace
Karen van Rooyen
The Herald
May 30, 2011


Faith stays with them despite all hardships


THE first thing Mohamed Sharif Noor grabbed as looters stormed his Motherwell shop last Wednesday was his Koran. The 26-year-old father of five is one of about 143 Somalis displaced when vandals struck nearly a week ago, looting and burning shops.


Less than 48 hours later, Noor sat on a mattress in the Motherwell police station yard – head bowed, reading his Koran.


Asked why he salvaged this holy book, he replied simply: “This is my religion, I need it. I read my Koran every day.”


Noor, like so many other Somalis in South Africa – there are about 9000 in the Eastern Cape – came here to escape the “everyday” fighting in his country.


He does not speak much of the horrors in the war-torn country, but becomes sad when speaking of the wife, five children, mother and father he left behind in Marka.


“I`m alone ... I speak to them and I send them money. I had two shops but the one was burnt and the other looted. I don`t know what to do ... It`s better to stay here, I don`t have money to go back. I`m afraid...”


About 60 men have sought refuge at the police station while others are being accommodated with family and friends in Korsten.


By 1pm most of them had left for Friday prayers while about a dozen guarded what they were able to take from their shops – crates of cooldrink, fresh fruit and washing powder.


As Noor read his Koran, a few metres away a young Somali washed his hair using a 2l plastic bottle.


There are no facilities for the men – no toilets, no bathrooms and nowhere to cook.


What little they do have, they share – as is the Somali way of life – even offering crumbs to birds.


A human rights official, who does not want to be named and does not want to comment, looks on, nods his head disapprovingly and says quietly: “These are human beings...”


Minutes later, the men start washing their feet at a nearby tap and soon they are lining up next to each other, all facing the same direction, for Friday afternoon prayers.


Among them is Suleiman Hussein, a 26-year-old who has lived here for 10 years and has become the voice of Somalis in the Eastern Cape.


He, too, fled Somalia because of the war, leaving behind his father, mother and 30 siblings. His father has four wives and he has 13 siblings on his mother`s side. “I left school, but to go to school was also trouble. You can get killed on your way to school by a stray bullet. It`s easy to die there.


Somalia is the worst place in the world.”


Fluent in Somali, English and Xhosa – he is adamant he will learn Afrikaans – Hussein has become a vital link between his community and South Africans, even serving as court interpreter.


He owns two shops in Uitenhage but his role as spokesperson for the Somali Association of South Africa in the Eastern Cape keeps him busy.


As we travelled across town to meet another family in Korsten, Hussein mentioned how families here were safer than those in the townships, partly because they were protected by local Muslims.


Bashir Sheikh told his story through Hussein. Sitting on a bed in a tiny room he recalled his journey to South Africa, which spanned 20 years.


He explained how, when civil war broke out in 1991, regions were ruled by warlords. Those who did not belong to tribes governed by the warlords were killed. “We were in the minority and so we ran. My elder brother was killed there, they murdered him. I saw his body on the ground. Those who shot him took everything. At the time, I fled to Ethiopia.”


As his wife, Fatima Mohamud, did laundry for other Somalis, the family`s only income, Sheikh continued his story. His journey took him to Saudi Arabia next, but he was soon deported back home.


“When I came back to Somalia, everything was demolished, everything was destroyed because of that civil war.”


Sheikh then travelled to Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia and finally came to South Africa in 1999. In 2004, his wife and child joined him. Three more children were born in South Africa. In 2008, they arrived in the Eastern Cape, settled in Addo and later moved to Port Elizabeth.


In his time in South Africa he has been robbed several times and shot at once.


With the help of his brother, Sheikh`s wife was able to set up the small laundromat business – two washing machines in a tiny bedroom. He tells us how, just minutes before, they were discussing going back to Somalia.


“My family is in Kismayo and when they heard the news that Somalis are being killed and robbed in South Africa, they asked why we didn`t come back,” Sheikh said. “I miss it, especially when people say Kismayo is a peaceful place.”


When we asked Hussein why he would not rather join his family in New Zealand, Australia or Canada, he became a bit more pensive, almost sad.


“I`m proud that I`m African.


“This is my second country. I want to stay here although sometimes it`s a risk.”


vanrooyenka@avusa.co.za


© Copyright 2011. Avusa Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved.


Four Somali-Owned Shops Burned Down, 55 Looted in E. Cape Attacks
Business Day Online
Thursday, May 26, 2011


 
South Africans loot a Somali owned business, following xenophobic attacks on foreigners in Du Noon, Cape Town, South Africa, 23 May 2008. Xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals has spread across the country with several areas in the Cape Town metropole now affected. More than 40 people have died with hundreds injured and thousands displaced after a week of violent attacks on foreign nationals. EPA/NIC BOTHMA


Report by Staff Reporters and SAPA: “Somalis Attacked in Port Elizabeth” - “Four Somali Shops have been Gutted and Fifty Five Others Looted in an Attack by Eastern Cape Residents”


Four Somali shops have been burnt down and 55 shops have been looted in Motherwell and Kwadwesi, in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape police said on Thursday.


“About 200 Somalis ran away from their shops, where a lot of them live, when other residents started attacking them,” said Captain Andre Beetge.


He did not know the reason for the attack.


He said he had heard of some physical assaults on Somalis, but no cases had been opened.


Fifty-two shops were looted and three were burnt down in Motherwell and three shops were looted and one was burnt down in Kwadwesi.


The attacks began on Wednesday afternoon and continued until the early hours of Thursday morning when police contained the situation.


“There was some stone-throwing at police when they arrived at the scene, but it wasn`t a general thing,” said Beetge.


“The situation is stable and quiet now and a lot of the Somalis have returned to their homes.


Some are operating their businesses already,” he said.


In March 2011 Somalis blamed local businessmen for prompting an attack then after some argued they were being undercut and were alarmed at the competition.


Somali leaders then accused the police of helping themselves to their goods during attacks.


The police firmly deny such charges and say that any goods they are able to salvage during the looting of Somali shops are taken to the local police station for safe keeping.


Joseph Matshapa, a community police forum officer in Motherwell, told UNHCR investigators that police have introduced several measures aimed at protecting Somali businesses.


“The police patrol Somali business areas at all hours.


After each patrol, the shop owner and the police both sign a confirmation of patrol booklet, which is proof that the police are trying to uphold safety and security,” he noted.


(Description of Source: Johannesburg Business Day Online in English -- Website of South Africa`s only business-focused daily, which carries business, political, and general news.


It is widely read by decisionmakers and targets a “higher-income and better-educated consumer” and attempts to attract “aspiring and emerging business.” Its editorials and commentaries are generally critical of government policies; URL: http://www.bday.co.za/)


© Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights reserved.


Somali Traders Arming Themselves To Defend Against Cape Town Gangs
Times Live
Sunday, November 28, 2010


 


Report by Shanaaz Eggington: “Somalis take up arms against Cape gangsters”


Somalian traders have been arming themselves with illegal weapons to defend themselves against gangs of ruthless robbers in Cape Town`s townships.


Twelve of them have been killed in Khayelitsha alone - one of the largest townships in the province - in the past three months, according to Abdi Ahmed, a spokesman for the Somali Retailers` Association. “Our people are dying like dogs, and the government is doing nothing to stop it,” he said.


Three Somalis and an Ethiopian were shot dead in their stores in a 24-hour murder and robbery spree. Police discovered that a 9mm pistol was used in all the attacks between October 22 and 23.


Now the area has been flooded with illegal guns as the traders arm themselves.


Provincial police spokesman Colonel Billy Jones refused to divulge how many illegal weapons had been seized in the area.


The killing spree in October claimed the lives of Hassan Mohammed Essa, Hoesein Mahamud Arale, Abduragman Ali and Tegesa Ababo.


The Sunday Times has established that detectives and the Visible Policing Unit, tipped off that shopkeepers were arming themselves, have since raided Somali stores. They recovered five illegal firearms and arrested five Somalians.


One of the weapons was, according to SAPS (South African Police Service) records, listed as having been destroyed in the Eastern Cape. Yet the 9mm pistol was found in the possession of a Somalian, Abdiriskh Mohamed, 28, who had been in the country for only 14 days when he was arrested.


Said Ahmed: “We don`t condone or encourage the actions of the men, but we understand their desperation. We have to protect ourselves. We didn`t come to this country to commit crime. We came here to escape the killing in our own country.


“There are many Somali shopkeepers who have been shot more than once. The wound from the first shot doesn`t even have time to heal before they are shot and robbed again.”


One of the shop owners who survived two shootings, who wanted to be known only as Mahmoud, this week showed the Sunday Times the graves in Salt River cemetery of fellow countrymen.


The police blitz started on October 26 at Mazola Cash Store in Kuyasa, where a 7.65mm pistol and ammunition were found. The gun was reported stolen in November last year. Abdulah Weheliye, 56, was charged with possession of an illegal firearm.


On October 28, Aden Ismail Mohamed, 24, was arrested at Rwantsama Cash store in Enkanini, in Harare. They confiscated a 9mm pistol and ammunition. The pistol was stolen in a housebreaking in the Strand in June 2008.


On the same day, police held Abdulah Omar, 25, for possession of illegal ammunition at African Cash Store in Endlovini.


At Siya Cash Store in Enkanini, police found a 9mm pistol with its serial number filed off. Mohamed Dayah, 36, was arrested. Mohamed Omar, 29, was arrested at African Shop in Endlovini.


(Description of Source: Johannesburg Times Live in English -- Combined website of the credible privately owned daily and weekly newspapers The Times and Sunday Times, with an emphasis on news from South Africa. The site also features multimedia and blogs. URL: www.timeslive.co.za)


© Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights reserved.


 



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