Two wives of foreign nationals living in Grahamstown say they have had mixed experiences with locals making xenophobic threats towards them.
Two wives of foreign nationals living in Grahamstown say they have had mixed experiences with locals making xenophobic threats towards them.
Aksa Arshad, a Xhosa woman who lives in Extension 9 and is married to a Pakistani shop owner, says that in the aftermath of the World Cup, they have been treated differently by the community. "Two days earlier they asked when the foreigners were going because the World Cup is over now." Arshad says she tried to ignore them but they continued to insult her, including accusing her of being a prostitute.
Arshad claims she was offended by this and responded by saying that foreigners were better than them because the local men can’t even provide enough money to buy food for their families.
However, Emmerentia Shahazad, a coloured woman married to a Bangladeshi shop owner, says that the community in her area is helpful. "When we were robbed, the community worked with the police in helping to apprehend the robbers."
She says xenophobic threats are rife in Extension 8 and 9 where some local men say they are threatened by foreigners who take their women from them. Akhter Hossain, a shop owner in Extension 7 who comes from Bangladesh, says some locals come into his shop and tell him to go back where he comes from.
Iran Alum, also from from Bangladesh, and a shop owner in Extension 9, says it is easy to start a business in South Africa compared to in Bangladesh, where they are only allowed to open big supermarkets. Alum says Bangladeshi businesspeople are targeted by criminals, who hold shop owners at knifepoint and steal their cash and their airtime.
"The police don’t do anything about it," he says. "The locals can do anything to us and don’t stay in jail because they have their lawyers."
He says he was robbed at gunpoint a few months ago and everything was taken, and that the robbers only stayed in jail for two days. Meanwhile, some of the locals say they don’t have a problem with the foreigners as their shops are conveniently situated for them.
