Mohamed peered out of his shop door. Small groups of warmly dressed pedestrians meandered down the sandy dirt road leading past his premises. It was almost 8 pm, and a cold winter's darkness had settled on Masiphumelele's small brick and corrugated metal homes. He was tempted to keep his shop open, as customers often frequented his small, ramshackle business as late as 10 pm. But today was not an ordinary working day. The deadline for foreign shops to close down in the township had passed two days earlier, and despite the apparent peacefulness of the evening, Mohamed was fearful. ‘One of the things I remember very clearly was that they said that they would “send their dogs” against us,’ he recalls. ‘The other thing that I remember was that it was the 28th of August. I will never forget that date.’

Mohamed chose to keep his shop open. He was struggling to afford his R2 500 monthly rent, so ceasing operations could spell eviction. In any event, local police had assured him that he could remain open, as he was permitted to trade by law; they’d told him they would patrol and protect his shop against any danger. He had arrived in Masiphumelele two months earlier, in June 2006, having become one of the two owners of Mandela Cash Store. His 50 per cent shareholding in the shop had cost him R35 000. R20 000 came from personal savings earned over four years working as an assistant in spaza shops in Cape Town and in Upington. The remaining R15 000 had been loaned interest-free from his former employer in Upington, who was also a close relative. ‘We help each other, you know,’ Mohamed said. ‘It's just normal. If the business is successful and he wants to borrow money, then it's my turn.’

Mohamed's shop was a simple corrugated iron structure connected to his South African landlord's house and was stocked with basic food and household items such as bread, milk, cold-drinks, vegetables, sweets and cosmetics. He, his business partner and a shop assistant all lived and worked on the premises together, surviving mostly off simple brown bread and butter sandwiches. Occasionally they would cook dinners comprised of canned curry and bread, or chicken fried with onion and potatoes, served with rice.