New gang leaders trying to popularise themselves are behind the spate of attacks on foreign shopkeepers in Cape Town, according to the Western Cape branch of the Somali Association of SA.

The association said on Thursday that “Somali-phobia” was to blame for the latest attacks on foreign-owned shops in Valhalla Park and Beacon Valley in Mitchells Plain.

Chairman Abdikadir Mohamed said the association’s members in Valhalla Park have been told that new gang leaders who were trying to “stamp their authority” in the area were behind attacks on Somali-owned shops on Tuesday.

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