2. Methodology
2.4 Research methodology
2.4.3 Adapting the initial research data to the thesis topic
My research with the ACMS focussed predominantly on the ability of Somali spaza shopkeepers in the Western Cape to access justice when they were victims of crime. In contrast the current thesis explores the governance of these shops on local as well as national levels and their political implications. At first glance this seems like a very
different topic. However as mentioned, during the course of my field research for ACMS I widened the notion of ‘justice’ to include governance interventions that arose in response to attacks on and threats against Somali spaza shopkeepers. Thus my interviews with shopkeepers, South African residents, landlords, police and prosecutors also explored conflict interventions and formal laws and informal rules governing the market.
Yet the archived data has two important shortcomings. First, although the data covered the topic of governance, I was not conscious at the time that I would use the material specifically towards a PhD examining the political implications of governance. Had I conducted all the interviews with that awareness in mind I would have enquired more into interviewees’ views regarding laws, rights and justice, and how they navigated the intersection between political freedom and economic needs and aspirations. Fortunately many of my interviews did cover these topics, however the data would have been richer had I been more alert to the relevance of that line of questioning for my PhD.
A second shortcoming of the archived research is that it was based on fieldwork that I conducted in the Western Cape, whereas the thesis topic relates to governance in
South Africa. Due to cost constraints I did not carry out local level field sites research
beyond the Western Cape province. As a PhD candidate living off grants and scholarships I did not have the financial resources to travel to different parts of the country to conduct additional qualitative research. To find out more about local level governance elsewhere in South Africa, I conducted desktop searches of media articles, court cases and academic reports. Although cross-country research would have been valuable, it was not essential to making findings regarding local level governance in South Africa. Abundant media reports show that governance efforts in other localities in the country have frequently mirrored local trends in Cape Town. For example, mobilisations by South African traders against foreign national spaza traders have occurred regularly in different townships across the country including in the Western Cape,82 Gauteng,83 the Eastern Cape,84 and the Free State85 provinces.
82 Quinton Mtyala ‘Landlords of Somalis invited to resolve wrangle over trading’ Cape Times 24 July 2009 at 5. Kowthar Solomons ‘Truth declared in spaza shop war’ Cape Argus 3 August 2009 at 3. 83 Jean Pierre Miasago and Mattew Wilhelm-Solomon ‘Foreign traders are fair game’ opinion piece in the Mail & Guardian, May 20 2011, available at http://mg.co.za/article/2011-05-20-foreign-traders-are-fair-game, date accessed 1 April 2015. Mpiletso Motumi ‘Business owners set shops on fire’ IOL News, February 27 2015 available at http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/business-owners-set-shops-on-fire-
Furthermore these calls have led to the establishment of informal agreements aimed at limiting foreign national spaza shops in numerous locations in the Western Cape86
and the Eastern Cape.87 Similarly fining operations against foreign spaza traders have occurred in the Western Cape, Limpopo and the North West provinces.88
Examining the governance of Somali traders at a local level in Cape Town can thus provide insight into wider governance efforts across the country.
Furthermore, the thesis builds on the archived research data by examining formal national level governance developments. This involved researching national laws, policies, and draft legislation. I also collected media reports and press releases to find out more about national level governance plans and policies and the political dynamics surrounding them. However, I did not carry out qualitative interviews with national political leaders involved in crafting new governance interventions due to logistical issues and a lack of response from relevant departments. For example the DTI advised that they no longer dealt with matters relating to small businesses as their mandate had been handed over to the Department of Small Business Development. However, the Department of Small Business Development was based in Gauteng, and had no office in Cape Town. In addition, I encountered difficulties setting up interviews with provincial offices of national departments, as I received no response from the Department of Homes Affairs’ Western Cape office, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the Western Cape Provincial Commissioner of Police.
1.1824497#.VRvG2VyQdUQ, date accessed 1 April 215. Mpiletso Motumi ‘Business owners set shops on fire’ IOL News, February 27 2015 available at http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/business-owners-set-shops-on- fire-1.1824497#.VRvG2VyQdUQ, date accessed 1 April 215. 84 Luyolo Mkentane ‘Somalis to register with spaza body’ The Herald (25 March 2011) at 24. 85 The editor ‘Botshabelo engulfed by Xenophobic flames’ The weekly Free State (6 July 2012), available at http://theweekly.co.za/?p=8143, date accessed 1 April 2015.
86 Ester Lewis ‘We'll close down illegal spazas' Cape Argus 8 February 2011 at 4. Vuyo Mabandla ‘Bid to 'extinguish' attacks on Somalis’ Cape Argus 26 July 26 2009, available at http://abahlali.org/node/5542/, date accessed 3 March 2017. 87 Luyolo Mkentane ‘Somalis to register with spaza body’ The Herald, 25 March 2011 at 24. Mandlenkosi Mxengi ‘Bhisho acts on xenophobic threats’ Fever.Online, 26 July 2012, available at http://www.fever- blue.co.za/articles/articledetails.aspx?id=29153, date accessed 25 March 2013. 88 Interviews with foreign national spaza shopkeepers in Cape Town. Mandla Khoza ‘Operation Hardstick: Cops out in force’ News24, 23 April 2012, available at http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Operation- Hardstick-Limpopo-cops-out-in-force-20120423, date accessed 3 March 2017. ‘Police target foreign traders in Limpopo’ Irin News, 17 August 2012, available at http://www.irinnews.org/report/96130/south-africa-police- target-foreign-traders-limpopo, date accessed 3 March 2017. Valerie Cilliers ‘Court rules on spaza shops’ Northern News, 24 August 2012, available at http://www.noordnuus.co.za/details/24-08- 2012/court_rules_on_spaza_shops/14634, date accessed 12 December 2013.
Despite the difficulties of working with archived data from different research projects there are benefits to the way in which the research unfolded. This is because the thesis can make use of a variety of data collected over a span of several years and related to a number of different research enquiries (such as crime affecting foreign national spaza shopkeepers, their access to formal and informal justice mechanisms, the governance of their businesses and economic considerations). This possesses great value, as the governance of foreign national spaza shopkeepers cannot be viewed in isolation, but is embedded in social contexts of crime, informal governance structures and economic competition. By covering these broad issues, the thesis is better able to explore and understand multiple perspectives and considerations that shape and influence governance.
Furthermore because governance is an activity of steering social order, not just the outcome of such a process – as is the case with laws and rules - it requires studying how rules are generated, contested and enforced. These events do not necessarily occur on a daily basis, but can emerge sporadically, can be once off, and evolve gradually over time. My long-term engagement with the Somali community as a researcher enabled me to observe how governance developed and adapted over many years. This was all the more important given that Somali nationals in Cape Town were often transient and did not reside in the city for long periods of time. Many of those involved in early governance interventions later resettled in third countries such as America, England, Australia and East Africa. Most of those active in Cape Town today would only have select knowledge of more recent trends and events. Having been in the field for an extended period of time thus enabled me to assemble an historical outline of events.