South Africa has been a magnet for immigration in recent years, with many of those coming to Africa’s second-largest economy to set up small family businesses in bustling townships such as Soweto. But their business acumen has not always been welcomed at first by local people and the language barrier has crippled many foreign entrepreneurs.

The past five years has seen a new wave of traders from mainly Bangladesh – and to a lesser extent countries like Pakistan, Egypt and Ethiopia – trying to squeeze into what has become an increasingly competitive South African market.

For the successful  foreign business people in the townships, they have become an easy target for local criminals, allegedly backed in some cases, orchestrated campaigns by envious local owners.