Xenophobia, Criminality and Violent Entrepreneurship: Violence against Somali Shopkeepers in Delft South, Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract

Violence against Somali shopkeepers is often cited as evidence of xenophobic attitudes and violence in South Africa. However, as argued in this article, it is not necessarily the case that such violence is driven by anti-foreigner sentiment. Instead, as illustrated in the case of Delft, a poor, mixed-race area in the City of Cape Town, violence against spaza shopkeepers may also be explained in terms of criminal activities and economic competition in the form of 'violent entrepreneurship'. This argument is made drawing on a survey of over 100 spaza shopkeepers, a household survey, police statistics, and interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders living in Delft. The key insight is that despite a recent history of intense economic competition in the spaza market in which foreign skopkeepers have come to dominate, levels of violent crime against foreign shopkeepers, 80 per cent of whom are Somali, are not significantly higher than against South African shopkeepers. In addition, while South African shopkeepers openly resent the Somali advent, most consumers remain indifferent to their presence and certainly prefer the lower prices. While our findings cannot be generalised beyond this case, they do alert us to the importance of locating arguments about xenophobia in the wider context of crime and violence in South Africa, as well as paying close attention to the local particularities that can turn general sentiment into xenophobic action.

Spatial Contestation, Victimisation and Resistance during Xenophobic Violence: The Experiences of Somali Migrants in Post‐Apartheid South Africa

“…In Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, they have transformed sections of suburbs such as Bellville, Mayfair and Jeppetown into Somali enclaves. Studies on Somali businesses or spaza shops in South Africa, such as those by Charman and Piper (), Gastrow and Amit (); Liedeman et al. (), Piper and Yu (), Thompson & Grant (), Thompson (2016) and Gastrow (), attribute Somali business successes in South Africa to similar strategies.…”

“…In fact, since the post‐1990 “deregulation of entrepreneurial spaces” (Peberdy & Rogerson, : 25), there has been a rapid expansion of Somali businesses and a unique culture of spaza shops in urban intersections and townships in Cape Town, positioning Somalis at the margins of xenophobic attacks. The decentring of local businesses in these spaces has given rise to a xenophobia tendency shaped by what Charman and Piper (:5) refer to as “violent entrepreneurship”. Studies on Somali businesses as those cited previously, show that there is a relationship between Somalis aggressive entrepreneurism and many South Africans’ justification of xenophobia, in that perennially disgruntled local business owners instigate violence “as part of a struggle to recapture lost market space or secure market advantage” (Charman & Piper, : 5)…”

“…The decentring of local businesses in these spaces has given rise to a xenophobia tendency shaped by what Charman and Piper (:5) refer to as “violent entrepreneurship”. Studies on Somali businesses as those cited previously, show that there is a relationship between Somalis aggressive entrepreneurism and many South Africans’ justification of xenophobia, in that perennially disgruntled local business owners instigate violence “as part of a struggle to recapture lost market space or secure market advantage” (Charman & Piper, : 5)…”

“…In Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, they have transformed sections of suburbs such as Bellville, Mayfair and Jeppetown into Somali enclaves. Studies on Somali businesses or spaza shops in South Africa, such as those byCharman and Piper (2012),Gastrow and Amit (2013);Liedeman et al (2013), Piper and Yu…”

Micro-enterprise predicament in township economic development: Evidence from Ivory Park and Tembisa

“…These include writings on grocery retail outlets (spaza shops) (Ligthelm 2005;Charman & Piper 2013), liquor retailers (Charman, Herrick & Petersen 2014;Rogerson & Beavon 1982), traditional healers ) and township tourism enterprises (Nemasetoni & Rogerson 2005) to list four examples. Research on street traders, in contrast, has predominately investigated urban inner-city informal markets and central business district localities (see BenitGbaffou 2015;Skinner 2008).…”