From Somali “Blast Furnace” to South African “Frying Pan”
Somalis marched to Parliament on 7 June in response to xenophobic violence against Somali refugees. About 500 people participated.
The march was organised by an informal group calling itself Somali Diaspora Communities. The march was in response to the looting of Somali and other foreign nationals’ shops in Gauteng and Eastern Cape provinces, as well as the murder of Abdi Nasir Mahmoud Good, a 25 year old Somali trader who was stoned to death by a mob in Port Elizabeth on 30 May.
The protesters handed a memorandum of grievances to Parliament’s Media Liaison Officer, Mr Simion Nkanunu.
One of the participants, Aden Sheikh Yussuf said, “It is like running from a blast furnace from my country to a frying pan here in South Africa. There have been a lot of incidents in which our families, friends and colleagues were killed, but not a single suspect has been arrested. We are asking for protection from the South African government because the Constitution says it is our right.”
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