- Shops in Crossroads, Cape Town, have been closed for more than a week after owners received threats demanding R2,500 a week.
- Residents say they now have to pay R20 for a return trip to the mall, since the shops that once served their community are shut.
Residents of Crossroads township in Cape Town have had to walk or take a taxi to the mall for over a week, after shops in their area closed following threats against the owners.
Aphiwe Ntwanambi, a 35-year-old resident, said she heard the shops closed after owners received letters warning them to shut down.
“The warning was that anyone who doesn’t follow this rule will be killed. We are struggling, but at the same time we cannot blame them for closing, because we all know that the extortionists are not afraid to kill,” she said.
For Ntwanambi, the closures have hit her directly.
“Some of us are not working; we depend on piece jobs, and the money we get from those piece jobs is for food. Now that the foreign nationals’ shops are closed, we are forced to spend R20 on a return trip to the mall,” she said.
She said these shops had made daily life more affordable.
“Shops at the mall don’t sell a combo of sugar, coffee, and powdered milk for less than R10. In foreign nationals’ shops, we get this combo. As someone who is not working, I feel the closure.”
Not everyone in the community sees it the same way. Simphiwe Nteleke, 45, said the closures could open up opportunities for South African traders.
“We have been saying foreign nationals must go so that we can occupy their shops. I don’t understand why people are complaining when the shops are closed, because it is a chance for a South African to open a shop, or they are lying when they say foreign nationals must go. I see no problem with the closure,” he said.
A community leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of being targeted, said the shops closed because extortionists are allegedly demanding R2,500 a week from owners.
“I heard that the extortionists allegedly want to be paid R2,500 a week, and if shop owners don’t have the money, they must close. We cannot get involved in this because it is dangerous and it’s way out of our league, and we can’t risk our lives if we try to intervene,” the leader said.
