Foreign traders in Cape Town seek legal action over alleged anti-immigrant intimidation - TimesLIVE

About 27 foreign national traders in Bellville have turned to the Western Cape high court, accusing the City of Cape Town and police of failing to protect them from anti-immigration groups allegedly using intimidation and threats to drive them out of business.

The traders, supported by the Somali Association of South Africa (Sasa), want the court to stop Operation Dudula and the March and March Movement from preventing them from operating at the Bellville Trading Zone, despite holding valid municipal trading permits.

In court papers filed on Monday, the applicants accuse the city of failing to take reasonable steps to prevent what they describe as unfair discrimination and the unlawful disruption of their livelihoods.

They seek prohibitory and mandatory orders against Operation Dudula and the March and March Movement, which in the court papers they describe as “vigilante respondents”.

The applicants also want authorities to develop a coordinated plan to ensure traders can safely access their stalls without intimidation or interference.

The respondents include the City of Cape Town, the minister of police, the national commissioner and the Western Cape police commissioner, the Bellville police station commander, Operation Dudula, the March and March Movement and Siyabulela Dukumbane, cited on behalf of Operation Dudula and Concerned Citizens.

According to the founding papers, the dispute dates back to June 30, when members of the two anti-immigration movements allegedly began blocking foreign nationals from trading at the Golden Arrow Bus Terminus and Middestad Mall trading areas, collectively known as the Bellville Trading Zone.

The applicants allege that the groups launched a campaign targeting black foreign national informal traders.

“The vigilante respondents are demanding that all other non-nationals trading at the Bellville Trading Zone cease trading and leave South Africa,” the court papers state.

The traders maintain that they are legally entitled to live and work in South Africa and that the city has issued them with informal trading permits in accordance with its trading by-laws.

They argue that the blockade has deprived them of their only source of income, threatening their families’ survival.

“The traders are indigent and rely on their informal trading income to provide for their households,” the papers state.

The applicants say foreign nationals often face significant barriers to entering the formal job market, leaving informal trading as one of the few opportunities to earn a living.

Some of their trading stock and belongings were forcibly removed from their trading bays.

In his founding affidavit, Abdulhakim Mumin Salih Husein, a Somali national employed by Sasa, alleges that the blockade is part of a broader anti-immigrant protest that began on June 30.

He said traders who tried to return to their stalls on July 1 were confronted by groups of people, some wearing clothing associated with Operation Dudula and the March and March Movement.

They were allegedly told they were not permitted to trade in South Africa and should leave the country.

“Some of their trading stock and belongings were forcibly removed from their trading bays,” Husein said.

He further alleges that about 13 affected traders approached the Bellville police station to report the incidents but were turned away after spending about seven hours seeking assistance.

According to his affidavit, officers allegedly told them they could not assist because the traders could not identify the alleged perpetrators by name.

No criminal cases were opened and police allegedly failed to take written statements from the complainants.

Husein said the alleged police response, coupled with the city’s failure to intervene, had left traders vulnerable to further intimidation and financial losses.

He accused the authorities of allowing private individuals to interfere with lawful economic activity based on traders’ nationality or perceived immigration status.

The applicants argue that the city has failed to enforce its informal trading by-laws and trading plan, despite issuing permits authorising the traders to operate in the designated area.

They also accuse the municipality of failing to enforce its public nuisance by-law against those allegedly obstructing access to trading spaces.

Husein said the city’s inaction had effectively prevented permit holders from exercising the rights granted to them under municipal regulations.

The traders want the court to compel the authorities to develop and implement a coordinated response to the alleged intimidation, restore safe access to the trading zone and prevent further disruptions.

They contend that the City’s failure to ensure safe and unhindered access to the Bellville Trading Zone amounts to unfair discrimination based on nationality, citizenship or refugee and asylum-seeker status.

The applicants want the court to declare the city’s alleged failure to act unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid.

The allegations against the city, police and anti-immigration movements remain claims contained in the court papers and have not been established by the court.

The City of Cape Town said it would respond to Sunday Times’ inquiry in due course. Western Cape Operation Dudula said it could not comment as it had not seen the court papers.