By Buziwe Nocuze
- Foreign shop owners in Lusikisiki force other foreign nationals out with threats and violence, saying their home country forbids shops standing close together.
- A foreign national in Hombe village is beaten by hired thugs after refusing to close his shop, while residents stay back to avoid the danger.
Residents of Hombe village in Lusikisiki say foreign shop owners are turning on each other as a fierce turf war grips their quiet community.
People living in the village say the shop owners chase away new arrivals from their own countries. The newcomers are told they are not allowed to open a shop close to an existing one because it breaks rules from back home.
Local residents say these foreign rules have nothing to do with South Africa, and they are tired of seeing violence in their streets.
Lusindiso Ngemntu, 40, says the trouble starts when a new shop owner arrives and tries to set up. “We saw them fighting and chasing each other on the street and didn’t know what was going on. Later we heard that the one who was already here told the newcomer he was not allowed to open a shop in the area,” he said.
Ngemntu says people in the village worry that if a South African tries to open a shop, the same violence will break out.
Another resident says one foreign shop owner was beaten by thugs after refusing to close.
“This is serious. In other provinces criminals are threatening foreign shop owners. But here, they are using violence on each other. They are hiring thugs to beat and scare each other off,” the resident said.
Residents say they stay out of the fights but step in when weapons come out. “We saw them chasing each other with weapons, so we broke it up before someone got killed,” the resident said.
Pictured above: Shop owners at Hombe village in Lusikisiki chased each other out over business turf.
Image source: Buziwe Nocuze
