GEORGE NEWS - The spokesperson for the Southern Cape Foreign Business Concern, an organisation for African foreign business people living and doing business in this region, has come forward to air his concern over threats made by certain members of the public to target and remove foreigners from the local community.
Liban Ali, of Somalian descent and a resident of Thembalethu, has been in South Africa for 19 years and is a "proudly law-abiding" South African citizen who would like to enjoy the same privileges that other citizens do, without living under a cloud of the continuous threat of xenophobia.
He says the Foreign Business Concern has a few hundred members, mostly Somalians and a few Ethiopians, and they make a significant contribution to the local economy.
Ali speaks Afrikaans, Xhosa and English and is fully integrated into the community. He says most of the foreigners are refugees and do not want to go back to their home country. "Some have permanent residency and some citizenship. We have the same constitutional rights as the local community."
His decision to speak out started at a recent imbizo called by the police in Thembalethu where certain community members alleged that immigrants are guilty of drug smuggling and other crimes.
"We were also accused of taking jobs away from locals and being in the country illegally. I want to give the assurance that our members are legal immigrants," Ali says. "We are being threatened and intimidated unfairly, but we are not going to be bullied. Most of us are shop owners and we deliver an essential service in the townships. We are not drug dealers. Some foreigners as well as locals do sell drugs, but we cannot take the blame."
Referring to the murders of two immigrants (a Somali and an Ethiopian) last year and a Somalian who was left blind after being shot in a xenophobic attack in Thembalethu, he says the threat is real. He does not want to leave, but would rather remain in his new country to make a living here.
Members of the Foreign Business Concern want to work with the police, community police forum and law enforcement to help root out drug dealing.
"The people who are wanting to chase us out, are in the minority and we will not be intimidated by them. I will lead my people until my last breath. Nothing scares me. The police at the imbizo made a promise to bring them to book. My message to those foreigners who are selling drugs is that we will not keep silent, but will assist the police in their efforts.
"Drug dealers have no place in our society. I would like to encourage the community to also take hands with the police."
Ali says legal immigrants enjoy the support of the majority of locals. "We want to thank these locals for welcoming us into their communities. They show that South Africans are not wholly xenophobic."
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