Xenophobia and informal trading in Port Elizabeth.

Reports on xenophobia directed towards citizens of other African countries in various areas of South Africa, including the informal sector, appear sporadically in the media. With this in mind a study on the relationships between street traders was conducted during 1999 in a section of Govan Mbeki Avenue in the city centre of Port Elizabeth. The research population included both black non-South Africans and black South Africans. The animosity that was evident was far less than the goodwill expressed between these two groups of informal street traders. The primary reason for this can be ascribed to the fact that they were not in direct competition with each other for customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]