Total population | |
---|---|
24,000 [1] including refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban, some rural areas of Western Cape, Gauteng and Limpopo. | |
Languages | |
Somali, South African English, Arabic, Afrikaans and other Languages of South Africa | |
Religion | |
Islam | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Somalis, Bantu people |
Somalis in South Africa are residents of South Africa who are of Somali descent. The earliest communities were formed in Cape Town and surrounding areas in the late nineties and early 2000s. A number of Somali-South African residents have risen to prominence locally and internationally.
Following the civil war in Somalia that broke out in 1991, a number of Somalis emigrated to South Africa. They soon established themselves in the commercial sector, creating employment opportunities for themselves and opening their own stores. [2]
Somali businesses have offered goods to customers at lower prices than their local competitors, cornering the market in many areas. [2] By 2010, Somali entrepreneurs provided most of the retail trade in informal settlements around the Western Cape province, among other places. [3] Somali-owned convenience shops selling products like snacks, soft drinks and clothing have been especially successful. [4]
In 2008, xenophobic riots against immigrants broke out in the Western Cape province, displacing some 20,000 foreign nationals. The Somali community's insular nature reportedly helped protect it from the worst of the violence. However, many Somali-owned stores and supermarkets were destroyed and looted. [2]
Concurrently, Somali traders and establishments have become increasingly targeted for violence and robbery. The willingness of many Somali merchants to work anywhere, including run-down townships, has facilitated the attacks. [5] Although South African business people envious of the Somalis' entrepreneurial success have been blamed for fomenting the hostilities, most of the incidents have been linked to criminals and "tsotsis" (gangsters) working on behalf of local community leaders. [3]
Somalis in South Africa have formed a unified ethnic network, largely keeping to themselves. A Muslim population, they marry within their own community and seek to preserve their culture. Their customs, physical appearance and religious background distinguish them from other residents. [2] [3]
As of 2015, there were an estimated 70,000 Somalis living in South Africa. [6]
The Somali community in South Africa is represented by the Somali Association of South Africa (SASA), chaired by Hanad Mohamed. According to the organization, following a greatly ameliorated political situation in Somalia in 2012, some Somali immigrants have started again repatriating back to their native country for the first time in ten years. [5]
Somalis in South Africa are diplomatically represented by the embassy of Somalia in Pretoria. [7] The office is intended to protect the interests and rights of Somali expatriates in the country, to tap into new commercial opportunities for Somali businesspeople, and to strengthen diplomatic representation in the region. [8]
Due to the conservative nature of the Somali community, tribalism is still very much prevalent, being the most common representative of the community. However, there seems to be a decline in tribal interest amongst first generation Somali South Africans— who consider themselves South Africans.
In the broader context of racism in the United States, mass racial violence in the United States consists of ethnic conflicts and race riots, along with such events as:
The 1992 Los Angeles riots were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, United States, during April and May 1992. Unrest began in South Central Los Angeles on April 29, after a jury acquitted four officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) charged with using excessive force in the arrest and beating of Rodney King. The incident had been videotaped by George Holliday, who was a bystander to the incident, and was heavily broadcast in various news and media outlets.
Masiphumelele is a township on the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, situated between Kommetjie, Capri Village and Noordhoek.
The history of African Americans in Chicago or Black Chicagoans dates back to Jean Baptiste Point du Sable's trading activities in the 1780s. Du Sable, the city's founder, was Haitian of African and French descent. Fugitive slaves and freedmen established the city's first Black community in the 1840s. By the late 19th century, the first Black person had been elected to office.
Somalis in the United Kingdom include British citizens and residents born in or with ancestors from Somalia. The United Kingdom (UK) is home to the largest Somali community in Europe, with 109,567 Somali-born immigrants residing in England, Wales and Northern Ireland at the time of the 2021 census and 1,313 in Scotland at the time of its 2022 census. The majority of these live in England, with the largest number found in London. Smaller Somali communities exist in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Leicester, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Cardiff.
The 1943Detroit race riot took place in Detroit, Michigan, from the evening of June 20 through to the early morning of June 22. It occurred in a period of dramatic population increase and social tensions associated with the military buildup of U.S. participation in World War II, as Detroit's automotive industry was converted to the war effort. Existing social tensions and housing shortages were exacerbated by racist feelings about the arrival of nearly 400,000 migrants, both African-American and White Southerners, from the Southeastern United States between 1941 and 1943. The migrants competed for space and jobs against the city's residents as well as against European immigrants and their descendants. The riot escalated after a false rumor spread that a mob of whites had thrown a black mother and her baby into the Detroit River. Blacks looted and destroyed white property as retaliation. Whites overran Woodward to Veron where they proceeded to violently attack black community members and tip over 20 cars that belonged to black families.
African immigration to the United States refers to immigrants to the United States who are or were nationals of modern African countries. The term African in the scope of this article refers to geographical or national origins rather than racial affiliation. From the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 to 2017, Sub-Saharan African-born population in the United States grew to 2.1 million people.
The Somali diaspora or Qurbajoogta refers to Somalis who were born in Greater Somalia and reside in areas of the world that they were not born in. The civil war in Somalia greatly increased the size of the Somali diaspora, as many Somalis moved from Greater Somalia primarily to Europe, North America, Oceania and South Africa. There are also small Somali populations in Asia. The UN estimates that in 2015, approximately 7 million people from Somalia were living outside of the country's borders.
Somali Americans are Americans of Somali ancestry. The first ethnic Somalis to arrive in the U.S. were sailors who came in the 1920s from British Somaliland. They were followed by students pursuing higher studies in the 1960s and 1970s, by the late 1970s through the late 1980s and early 1990s more Somalis arrived. However, it was not until the mid and late 1990s when the civil war in Somalia broke out that the majority of Somalis arrived in the United States. The Somali community in the U.S. is now among the largest in the Somali diaspora.
Somali Canadians are Canadians of Somali origin or are dual Somali and Canadian nationality.
Prior to 1994, immigrants from elsewhere faced discrimination and even violence in South Africa due to competition for scarce economic opportunities. After majority rule in 1994, contrary to expectations, the incidence of xenophobia increased. In 2008, at least 62 people were killed in the xenophobic uprising and attacks. In 2015, another nationwide spike in xenophobic attacks against immigrants in general prompted a number of foreign governments to begin repatriating their citizens. A Pew Research poll conducted in 2018 showed that 62% of South Africans expressed negative sentiment about foreign nationals living and working in South Africa, believing that immigrants are a burden on society by taking jobs and social benefits and that 61% of South Africans thought that immigrants were more responsible for crime than other groups. There is no factual evidence to substantiate the notion that immigrants are the main culprits of criminal activity in South Africa, even though the claim is incorrectly made sometimes by politicians and public figures. Between 2010 and 2017 the number of foreigners living in South Africa increased from 2 million people to 4 million people. The proportion of South Africa's total population that is foreign born increased from 2.8% in 2005 to 7% in 2019, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration, South Africa is the largest recipient of immigrants on the African continent.
South Africa experiences a relatively high influx of immigration annually. As of 2019, the number of immigrants entering the country continues to increase, the majority of whom are working residents and hold great influence over the continued presence of several sectors throughout South Africa. The demographic background of these migrant groups is very diverse, with many of the countries of origin belonging to nations throughout sub-saharan Africa. A portion of them have qualified as refugees since the 1990s.
The Cape Silicon Initiative or Silicon Cape is a regional ICT business networking NPO and community in the Western Cape, South Africa.
The Cincinnati race riots of 1829 were triggered by competition for jobs between Irish immigrants and native blacks and former slaves, in Cincinnati, Ohio but also were related to white fears given the rapid increases of free and fugitive blacks in the city during this decade, particularly in the preceding three years. Merchants complained about the poor neighborhoods along the river as having ill effects on their waterfront shops and trade with southern planters. Artisans excluded blacks from apprenticeships and jobs in the skilled trades. In June 1829 overseers of the poor announced that blacks would be required to post surety bonds of $500 within 30 days or face expulsion from the city and state. This was in accord with a 1807 Black Law passed by the Ohio legislature intended to discourage black settlement in the state.
The Cincinnati riots of 1841 occurred after a long drought had created widespread unemployment in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Over a period of several days in September 1841, unemployed whites attacked black residents who defended themselves. Many blacks were rounded up and held behind a cordon and then moved to the jail. According to the authorities, this was for their own protection.
Somali Australians are citizens and residents of Australia who are of Somali ancestry.
Kenyan Somalis are citizens and residents of Kenya who are of Somali ethnic descent. They have historically inhabited the North Eastern Province, previously part of the Northern Frontier District, from which was carved out of the Jubaland region of present-day southern Somalia during the colonial period. Following the civil war in Somalia that broke out in 1991, many Somalis sought asylum in the Somali-inhabited enclaves of Kenya. An entrepreneurial community, they established themselves in the business sector, particularly in the Nairobi suburb of Eastleigh.
Somalis are an ethnic group in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area that makes up the largest Somali diasporas in the United States. By 2018, approximately 43,000 people born in Somalia were living in Minnesota, and approximately 94,000 Minnesotans spoke Somali language at home.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo there is a significant community of Chinese migrants located in the capital of Kinshasa and the mineral rich southern Haut-Katanga Province. According to official figures from the Chinese embassy, there are 5,000 Chinese living in the DR Congo, though the actual number is believed to be far higher. More recent estimates vary from 5,000 to 50,000. The mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a main reason for Chinese people moving to the DRC.
The 2019 Johannesburg riots occurred in the South African city of Johannesburg from 1–5 September 2019, leading to the deaths of at least seven people. The riots were xenophobic in nature, targeting foreign nationals from other African countries. Retaliatory actions by rioters in other African nations was taken against South African brands. The South African Institute of Race Relations stated that the riots were similar in nature and origin to the 2008 xenophobic riots that also occurred in Johannesburg.