Xenophobia – Katlehong – South Africa
Many Somalians and Ethiopians are too scared to stay in South Africa, but too afraid to go home after fleeing the war in the Horn of Africa.
After 20 years of war in the Horn of Africa, many Somalians and Ethiopians believed they had no choice but to flee and scatter across the world.
One community from the region crossed the continent to begin a new life in South Africa, working as entrepreneurs. Little did they know they’d exchanged one hell for another. Constantly the victims of xenophobic attacks, they spoke to the me about their experiences.
After 20 years of war in the Horn of Africa, many Somalians and Ethiopians believed they had no choice but to flee and scatter across the world.
One community from the region crossed the continent to begin a new life in South Africa, working as entrepreneurs. Little did they know they’d exchanged one hell for another. Constantly the victims of xenophobic attacks, they spoke to the me about their experiences.
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Bishar Abdir Ahman Bulle
I left Somalia after Al-Shabaab killed my sister and brother. I left alone and went through Kenya, before crossing the Mozambique border into South Africa. It took me another three months of travelling to arrive in Johannesburg. I now run a shop in the southern township of Katlehong. But we face violence on a regular basis. One night I was sleeping in the shop when four guys broke in. They said, ‘give us the money or you will die’. My friend - also inside the shop - was killed and they attacked me with a screwdriver. I recounted the story to my father back home and he told me that it is better to die in South Africa than in Somalia. But I am afraid to go back to Katlehong; I don’t want to die. |
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Bashir Osman (right)
I was imprisoned by Al-Shabaab, after they killed my father. I succeeded in breaking the roof of the prison and escaped, across the border to Kenya. It took me another four months to get to South Africa. I then opened a shop with a partner that I met here. One night a mob of people broke the roof of the shop and got in. They then broke the front gate and took everything, while we were sleeping in the back of the shop. We opened the back door and ran for our lives. Now, here in South Africa, I am always in fear of my life. The Al-Shabaab is hunting me from Somalia, and sending me threats over the phone. But I can’t be safe here either because of the xenophobic attacks. |
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Abdikadir Denich
I left Somalia for a better future in South Africa in 2012. During my first night there, they came to take everything. On the second night they came to burn the shop down. I was sleeping in the shop at the time and was caught in the fire. I survived third degree burns and had to spend three months in a hospital. I couldn’t escape people wanting to attack me, so I had to move away from Katlehong. Now I have nothing. I stay here in a hostel for free. All I want is a job. |
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Mohammed Faheem
A half of my family died in the Somali civil war, so I decided it was my duty to go and find something better. I just started running - I didn’t have a plan to to go to South Africa. I just wanted to get away from the hell there. My first stop was Nairobi, in Kenya. Two guys there told me about South Africa. They told me it was a good place; that it would be safe. I was told that It was a country where you could do a lot, so we went to South Africa together. But when I got here I realised it was nothing like what they had said and life was really hard. In 2009 I was kidnapped in a taxi and held for hours before I was dropped off. That really traumatised me. After that I worked in a shop in Tembisa. One day a guy entered the shop and killed my friend in front of me. I don’t want to go all the way back to Somalia, and I don’t have any money to go somewhere else. |
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Farhiya Abdi Hassan
I came to South Africa after my husband, Sharimane, did the journey and arrived safely. He had a shop but had to close it because he was afraid. Now we live in a small apartment in Mayfair. It’s really hard to pay the rent. In January I was in a taxi with two of my friends when the driver started threatening us because of where we came from. We started screaming for help. We finally got the door open and fell out. My friend crashed her head against the road and is still in the hospital. I got out with just a few scratches. But now I don’t feel safe anywhere here. |
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Bekele Ashoro
I came here from Ethiopia nine years ago. My brother came after me. One day a mob of 200 people attacked my shop. They took the roof and everything. I flew for my life through the back door. Now I have nowhere to live. I don’t feel safe anywhere. When I have no money I park my car outside the police station and sleep. That's where I feel safest. |
