A living to be made from fear and loathing, so they say [Somali business in South Africa]

[General Duke]

Jan 1, 2011 9:22 PM | By Jonny Steinberg

 

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In recent weeks, I have been asking Somali shopkeepers in Cape Town the following two questions: are your businesses more or less successful than those run by South Africans in your neighbourhood? If yes or no, why?

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'Our customers hate us,' one Somali said. 'They are rude to us and try to cheat us; but they still prefer buying from us than from South Africans'

These are loaded questions, and the answers I received were similarly loaded. Almost everyone said that they did better than their South African competitors. But the reasons were mischievously eccentric. Few people claimed to be more astute or better traders. Rather, many said, they did better, paradoxically enough, because they were frightened and ill at ease.

 

Consider, for instance, Somalis' and South Africans' respective relationships with wholesalers. South African spaza shop owners generally buy their stock as lone retailers. So do Somalis. But, typically, all Somalis in a given area patronise the same wholesaler. The result is a de facto economy of scale. It makes sense for wholesalers to sell to lone Somali traders at bulk prices; combined, all the Somalis in an area constitute the equivalent of several supermarkets. It also makes sense for wholesalers to extend credit to their Somali customers, to accommodate cash flow problems, and to be lenient at times of crisis and disaster, for they know that their Somali clients are there for the long haul.

 

When I asked how Somalis go about picking a wholesaler, respondents did not talk about profitability, but about safety. "We choose the person who protects us," one said. "We are at our most vulnerable when we buy stock. We have a lot of money in our pockets, and everyone knows that. We are walking into a place where most of the people are South African, so we are outnumbered. We are surrounded by our competitors, who hate us. It is very easy for them to bring tsotsis to rob us. They know that the police will not come and save us. So we choose the wholesaler who protects his premises, and the area outside his premises, and instructs his security staff to intervene when Somalis are victimised."

 

According to this story, an economy of scale is created not from a collective strategy to buy cheap, but by fear.

 

As for their relationships with their customers, some of the Somalis' comments were similarly surprising. "Our customers hate us," one of them said. "They are rude to us and try to cheat us; but they still prefer buying from us than from South Africans." Many reasons were given: Somali shops are always open, no matter the time; Somalis pay close attention to what their customers are buying and ensure that nobody ever asks for something that isn't stocked. But the most interesting answer was this: "Our shops are in the poorest parts of South Africa. Most of our customers are unemployed or on welfare. They are the laughing stock of South Africa. But when they come to our shops, they are king. They can come with R2. There are only a few things you can buy with that: single cigarettes, one or two chewing gum sticks, sweets. The customer can come with his coins and say, 'Give me a cigarette.' I get one. He says, 'No, I've changed my mind; I want chewing gum.' I say, 'Yes, Bra,' and get it. By the time I am back at the counter, he has changed his mind again. 'No, Kwerekwere, I want sweets.'

 

"A South African shopkeeper will not tolerate that. He will say: 'You are wasting my time. F*** off.' A Somali cannot afford to say f*** off. He can only say, 'Yes, Sissie. Yes, Bra.' And so the laughing stock of South Africa come to us because our shops are the one place in their own country where they can say, 'I want this!' and someone will respond."

 

There are, I suspect, all sorts of other reasons why Somalis trade well. For instance, their extended kin ties have served as business networks for generations, with result that capital and risk can be shared among virtual strangers; a person can thus arrive alone in a strange land and within months set up a business.

 

But my respondents chose not to speak about these things. They wanted, instead, to talk about their fear. While their answers to my questions were not untruthful, neither were they really intended to inform me about Somali business practices. Their purpose was rhetorical and cat*****c. They were talking back to South Africans; they were letting off steam. "You hate us for doing well," the Somalis were saying. "But we are doing well, you ******, because you hate us."

 

Steinberg is a senior researcher at Huma, University of Cape Town

[General Duke]

interesting article.

[isqarxis]

now i got it.thnks for sharing

[Alpha Blondy]

those zulu kaffers are hating on somalis. i've never understood why the somalis have to depend on their wholesalers to protect them; they need to form vigilantes groups and protect themselves against feral south africans.

[Jacaylbaro]

The customer can come with his coins and say, 'Give me a cigarette.' I get one. He says, 'No, I've changed my mind; I want chewing gum.' I say, 'Yes, Bra,' and get it. By the time I am back at the counter, he has changed his mind again. 'No, Kwerekwere, I want sweets.'

 

"A South African shopkeeper will not tolerate that. He will say: 'You are wasting my time. F*** off.' A Somali cannot afford to say f*** off. He can only say, 'Yes, Sissie. Yes, Bra.' And so the laughing stock of South Africa come to us because our shops are the one place in their own country where they can say, 'I want this!' and someone will respond."

 

And they wonder why ..................

[hamza]

somalis are among the most industrious people on earth, the south africans are lazy and depend on the mineral salts provided by nature instead of waking up and working hard they only know how to yell freedom is coming tommorrow! further more, majority of them are on ARV's therefore they are desperate.

 

even though somalis are aliens there, they make wonders by establishing business enterprises from a small capital. atleast they don't depend on social welfare from S.A....,

[General Duke]

You are right, Somali traders are taking over Africa.

[SayidSomal]

Our shops are in the poorest parts of South Africa. Most of our customers are unemployed or on welfare. They are

the laughing stock of South Africa

. But when they come to

our shops, they are king

.

Sad, but we will have the last laugh - i like this one:

"You hate us for doing well," the Somalis were saying. "But we are doing well, you i.d.iots, because you hate us."

Lets just hope those i.diots and those vile 'suut' african spaza owners are illiterate do not read this newspaper and take it out their inadequacies on the poor Somali traders.

[BOB]

Not all South Africans areBad & Hate Somalis and not all Somalis are as innocent as they betray themselves to be and if you want to know why Somalis are 'Targeted' so to speak then look no further than this Our shops are in the poorest parts of South Africa. Most of our customers are unemployed or on welfare it's very vital to examine the depth of these lines before making an emotional comment.

 

You have to remember that dadka laga hadlayaa waa dad cawaan ah oo aan diin laheyn oo iska reer baadiye ah oo aan weligood arag magaalo iyo dad aan aheyn kuwa ku qabiilka ah markaasaa nin Soomali ah intuu dukaan ka furto meesha ayuu doonayaa inuu lacag ka sameeyo, mararka qaarkii waxaa dhacda in naagahooda lacag looga qaado oo si cad uu ninka soomaaliga ah ugu bareero inuu naagta heysto, meesha waxa u badan oo tagaa waa dhalinyaro aan laheyn xaasas marka you can imagine falalka ay qaarkood ku kacaan...I've seen this happen countless times and I've also seen it end in bloodshed and murder...I'm not saying all Somalis do it but my god some of them waa qashiin and falalka ay ku kacaan waa wax laga xishoodo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace, Love & Unity.

[hamza]

south Africans are xenophobes. remember what they did to zimbabwean immigrants.

 

thay are afraid of all foreigners, the citizens are not all bad but their exists quite a good number of them who suffer from xenophobia. somalis are in many places across the world, many countries have welcomed somalis but south africa doesn't protect well the immigrants.