By Francis Hweshe
Friday, September 12, 2008
At a press conference on Thursday, representatives from the city of Cape Town and the Somali business community were present when members of the Zanokhanyo Retailers' Association publicly withdrew the threatening letters sent to the Somalis, apologised and called for a peaceful resolution to the trading conflict.
Mohamed Omar, a Somali representative, accepted the apology and agreed to work with the city and the locals in sharing better business practices.
The Somali business community and the Zanokhanyo Retailers' Association were set to sign a memorandum of understanding at the Khayelitsha Trading Centre on Friday.
The threatening letters sent by the Zanokhanyo Retailers' Association to Somalis have exposed internal rifts within the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nafcoc).
Zanokhanyo Retailers' Association, which distributed the letters to the Somali shop owners in Khayelitsha, is a Nafcoc member.
But Nafcoc Western Cape President Liwa Guguluza distanced himself from members Zakuthini Ndletyana and Mandisi Njoli, who he said had brought the organisation into disrepute as they had openly backed the Zanokhanyo Retailers' Association when it sent out the threatening letters.
Guguluza added that legal action would follow and he said the Ndletyana and Njoli faction used to be members of Nafcoc, but said their membership had expired on June 20 in 2007.
He called on the provincial and local government to take strong action against those who had instilled fear in the community and among the Somalis and to help ensure that business continued as usual.
Simon Grindrod, the mayoral committee member for economic development, said on Thursday that whatever side of Nafcoc the retailers belonged to, the city would not wait for an outbreak of violence again.
Grindrod emphasised that the internal politics of Nafcoc would not get in the way of the city as it sought ways of resolving the matter.
His message was reiterated by Mansoor Mohamed, the city's executive director of economic, social development and tourism, who asked why Nafcoc was squabbling.
Grindrod welcomed the decision to withdraw the threatening letters and thanked those responsible for their role in easing tensions.
He said the city would conduct a detailed study of the underlying causes of tension in township trading communities.
Foreign traders and local retailers would form a part of the study.
He said the aim was to find a lasting solution that would create a healthy trading environment for both local and foreign traders in the communities.
"We need to ascertain why certain communities are able to thrive in unregulated township conditions and we need to empower all informal traders by giving them access to necessary information through workshops and forums," said Grindrod.
"There will be a significant effort by the city to shift resources into the spheres and areas where they are needed the most, such as township informal trading."
He said Cape Town celebrated diversity and informal trading was a pillar of the city's economy as it generated more than a billion rand a year.
Njoli, who claims to be the provincial general secretary of Nafcoc, maintained that his group was the legitimate organisation after the organisation had split into two factions due to conflict.
"Violence, bloodshedding is not on our minds we are sorry if you felt intimidated.
"You are welcome in this country and in our communities and we should share in our economy," Njoli told the Somali representative at the conference.
In a statement, Garth Strachan, the new MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, said he was willing to help traders in terms of facilitating procurement processes, infrastructure development and encouraging the creation of small businesses and training.
Meanwhile, police spokesperson Superintendent Andre Traut said a man had been arrested on Thursday in connection with the threatening letters that were sent to the Somalis.
Traut expected him to be charged on Friday.