Durban -Two shops in Inanda were burnt down last week, prompting a meeting between Premier Willies Mchunu and the North Region Business Association (Norba).
Norba, which represents business owners in Inanda, KwaMashu and Ntuzuma, had threatened foreign businesses earlier this month in an effort to force them to leave the community. However, there is no evidence at this stage to indicate their involvement in this latest attack.
While the intention was to scare off the foreigners, locals would likely suffer as well.
One of the torched shops was being rented from the Mngadi family to two Somalians at R4000 a month. The business was run by a man known only as Mohamed. He had been a tenant for more than 10 years and his rent ensured that the four Mngadi sisters were able to make ends meet.
Their parents ran the business in the 1980s. When they died, the sisters could not run the business successfully, hence their decision to rent it.
One of the sisters, Clara Mngadi, said the people who burnt shops run by foreigners failed to understand that the shops belonged to locals.
“We have lost a source of income. The rent paid by the foreign business people put food on the table. Nobody in the community wanted to rent the business, but Mohamed made it possible,” she said.
A neighbour, who witnessed the incident, said a convoy of bakkies arrived on Thursday and attacked the Mohamed brothers before setting the shop alight with a petrol bomb.
A young mother from next door said the area had been left without a decent shop, except for the small tuck shop that sold necessities such as bread and milk.
“The community is hugely inconvenienced, especially women and mothers.
“Having this shop in the community meant we did not have to travel to town for things such as baby food, nappies and sanitary pads.
“Pensioners were able to buy rice and other staple foods in bulk and at cheap prices,” the woman said.