By Mariette le Roux

A Somalian refugee, from Masiphumelele, northwest of Cape Town, where Somalian shops and properties were burnt and looted, sits, 12 September 2006, outside the Simon's town Mosque in Cape Town, South Africa. Refugees who fled war-torn Somalia in search of safety and a better life in South Africa now fear becoming the next victims in a string of murders of their compatriots in the Cape peninsula.(AFP/File/Gianluigi Guercia)

CAPE TOWN, September 17, 2006 – Refugees who fled war-torn Somalia in search of safety and a better life in South Africa now fear becoming the next victims in a string of murders of their compatriots in the Cape peninsula.

"I ran from the bullet to find violence here," said Malyun Aden, who ran a clothing store at Masiphumelele, near Cape Town, until it was trashed in mob attacks on Somali homes and businesses last month.

"They hate us here. With no third alternative, I prefer to return to Somalia and take my chances there."

According to spokesmen for the Somali refugee community and non-governmental bodies, 29 Somalis out of a population of about 4,000 have been killed in and around Cape Town since July 22.

They claim business jealousy is behind it all, with Somalis running small, successful businesses in black townships at lower profit margins than their South African competitors.

Police dispute the death toll, putting it at 10 for the year to date, and say robbery is a more likely motive for the murders and attacks on property.

Regardless of the figures and motives, the killings and mob violence have evoked unwelcome memories for people who managed to flee the bloody chaos of a country where rival warlords have been battling it out for the last 15 years.

"We ran from Somalia to avoid getting killed in the civil war, only to get killed in this country," said Abdi Yusuf, who has carved out a living as a taxi driver since his colleague in a Cape Town retail business was shot dead.

"We all know somebody who has been killed" in the attacks in the Cape, added Mohammed Osman who has been hiding out at a mosque with about 20 other Somalis since the attack in Masiphumelele.

The 26-year-old grocery store owner lost all he possessed in the attack, except for the clothes on his back and a cellphone.

Like many others, Osman said he came to South Africa seeking a better future. "Now I have nothing, and nowhere to go. My business is gone."

The mosque's Imam Abdul Gakiem Raban said local Muslim businessmen were organizing to find new homes and jobs for the refugees.

"I find it very sad that people (South Africans) who fought for equality and democracy are now behaving like this," he said.

Many members of the Somali community feel the authorities in South Africa, confronted by one of the highest overall murder rates in the world, are turning a blind eye to their plight.

"The government is involved in an image-saving exercise," said Abdifatah Ismail, a Somali refugee representative in Cape Town. "We need the government, particularly the police, to take a stand and tackle the problem."

A spokesman for Western Cape security minister Leonard Ramatlakane said no special measures were being taken.

"The safety measures afforded the Somali community is the same as those afforded our citizens," said Makhaya Manie.

Stressing that security was the responsibility of the police, Cape Town mayor Helen Zille appeared at a press conference with members of the Somali community last week to express her concern about the attacks.

She highlighted the refugees' contribution to the local economy, saying: "They open successful businesses in township areas where many people don't want to go. They bring economic activity into sadly neglected areas of our city."

Appearing alongside Zille, the national leader of the official opposition Democratic Alliance, Tony Leon, called for action to tackle what he termed "a form of ethnic cleansing".

Despite the bloodshed, the Pretoria office of the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it had not received any applications for repatriation to Somalia or a third country.

"We condemn the killings in the strongest possible terms," said UNHCR spokeswoman Pumla Rulashe. "There are discrepancies in the figures, but in our view even one unnatural death is a death too many."

Source: AFP