Buffalo City Metro, OR Tambo District Municipality and Nelson Mandela Bay have been flagged as extortion hotspots in the Eastern Cape by the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure.
Five “business forums” have been identified as running extortion syndicates in the province by the intelligence structure.
Tabling a presentation to parliament’s police portfolio committee on Wednesday, the head of detectives and forensic services, Lieutenant-General Khosi Senthumule, said construction sites — ranging from small to large-scale projects — were the prime targets of organised crime syndicates.
Senthumule said numerous calls had been made to the government by business owners requesting an aggressive response to the various threats.
From April 1 2019 to March 31, 6,056 extortion cases were reported in SA and 2,389 arrests were made.
However, only 178 convictions were secured.
In the Eastern Cape, 438 complaints were reported, 108 arrests were made and 13 convictions secured.
“Most recently, 13 suspects in seven extortion cases were arrested in the Eastern Cape during Operation Silapha, a national intervention.
“All 13 suspects are now in custody,” Senthumule said.
Earlier in September, police launched an extortion hotline in Motherwell and Mthatha.
Since then, 1,525 calls had been logged, with 37 cases opened and 11 inquiries registered.
In August, a specialised task force from the police’s elite National Intervention Unit was enlisted to flush out ruthless criminals terrorising people and businesses in the province.
The unit’s operations had led to the fatal shooting of two suspected extortion kingpins, who had produced guns and fired shots at police.
Since Operation Silapha was launched in the province after several multi-stakeholder and community engagement sessions held by police minister Senzo Mchunu in August, an additional 104 police members had been deployed, including detectives and crime intelligence operatives.
“The key objective is to stabilise the province as well as lead to arrests and this has resulted in seizures and arrests being made,” Senthumule said.
She said it was difficult to formulate charges against extortionists, adding that strong legislation was needed to ensure arrested suspects did not walk free.
“Taxi drivers have also fallen victim to extortionists, with them demanding a share per load being transported
“These groupings storm into boardrooms while bid evaluation committee meetings are in session and demand tenders.
“They threaten supply chain management officials.
“In vulnerable communities, this was seen in the Eastern Cape, blind and disabled people are also extorted.
“RAF and pension payouts are also identified and when [beneficiaries] receive lump sum payments [they] are extorted for a percentage.”
Tactics employed by extortion rings included intimidation, violence and the disruption of projects.
Senthumule said extortionists had organised themselves into groups known as local business forums.
She said these groups had infiltrated various sectors, demanding money or a share of the proceeds of development projects.
They were extorting protection fees from small businesses, school transportation services and even households.
Deputy police minister Cassel Mathale said SA faced a shortage of police officers, adding that the country had fewer officers than in 2010.
National police commissioner Fannie Masemola said underreporting of incidents of extortion was a major challenge.
Often, by the time the authorities were notified, targeted contractors had already paid part of the money demanded by the extortionists.
“The challenge of extortion is underreported, especially in construction.
“Most contractors go along with the demand for protection fees but only when criminals start [demanding more] money, then it is reported and, when they open cases, we see they’ve been paying money and we’re given half-truths,” he said.
Masemola said tender notices and announcements also provided an opportunity for contractors to be targeted.
“Once tenders are gazetted, that makes the specific contractor vulnerable to these people.
“We’ve been [making] quite a lot of inroads ... in terms of arrests.”
HeraldLIVE
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