Thursday August 21, 2025
FILE — A Somali-owned spaza shop in South Africa. Somali traders, who run thousands of small supermarkets across townships and working-class neighbourhoods, have frequently been targeted in violent robberies and xenophobic attacks.
Mogadishu (HOL) — Two Somali nationals were wounded late Tuesday when armed robbers stormed a shop in Rustenburg’s Zinniaville neighbourhood, community leaders said.
One of the victims was shot multiple times and remains in critical condition. Both men were taken to JST Hospital in Rustenburg for treatment, according to Mustafa Shirwa, chairman of the Somali community in South Africa’s North West Province.
Police said they have opened an investigation into the robbery but reported no arrests.
The attack lays bare the precarious reality for Somali traders in South Africa, where foreign-owned shops have become
routine targets of violent robberies. Somali shopkeepers across major cities and townships have
faced repeated assaults, with dozens killed or injured in recent years despite repeated calls for stronger police protection. Community leaders say these small outlets, tucked into townships and working-class neighbourhoods, are lifelines for residents yet operate under the shadow of constant threat.
Just last month, two young Somali shopkeepers were gunned down in Cape Town’s Wallacedene neighborhood in what police suspect was an extortion-related ambush, underscoring the deadly risks traders face. The killings followed escalating demands from gangs that force Somali spaza shop owners to pay protection fees or face violent consequences. Even when businesses shut down in protest, as they did in Khayelitsha this June, many traders say uneasy truces with extortionists offer only temporary relief, leaving the community trapped between economic survival and the threat of deadly reprisals.
Somali shopkeepers have repeatedly appealed for stronger police protection, citing a long history of armed assaults, theft, and xenophobic violence. Rights groups warn that Somali, Ethiopian, and Pakistani traders remain especially vulnerable to both crime and targeted attacks.
South Africa endures some of the highest levels of violent crime globally, leaving small business owners in informal settlements acutely vulnerable. Even so, Somali traders continue to anchor local economies, providing affordable goods in areas long abandoned by major retailers.
