Cape Town’s sanitation facilities are victims of the extortion mafia

As the extortion mafia targeted sanitation services in Cape Town, requiring Sanitech to pay a protection fee for cleaning toilets in communities, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu announced the launch of a new crime prevention project involving various levels of government, Cape Town etc. defeated.

Also read: Ramaphosa supports Cape Town police in tackling extortionists

Mchunu delivered a speech in Parliament on Monday, outlining steps the police are taking to combat extortion threats across the country.

He stated that the Western Cape is one of four provinces responsible for 73% of the crime in the country.

Mchunu claimed that the criminals’ methods were common knowledge.

‘Most of them are individuals who do not want to work, but choose to pose as armies of murderous parasites to be fought and rejected by society as a whole.

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‘They are often heavily armed and operate in groups that sow fear and chaos.

“The relative silence of communities and the low reporting are all a result of these fears,” Mchunu said.

The police minister told the National Assembly that some people who received compensation from the Traffic Accident Fund People were also extorted elsewhere in the country.

‘As part of the whole government approach, we have started signing cooperation agreements with provincial and local governments. The operational plans are all aimed at integrating our resources for fighting crime.

‘The operational plan is currently being rolled out in Cape Town with its six new sub-districts.

The model will be replicated in all metropolises of the country.

‘The operational plan includes Community Policing Forums and private security companies.

‘The Eastern Cape and Nelson Mandela Bay have agreed on the operational plan and it is currently being rolled out. We will launch it shortly.’

While Mchunu was giving his speech, Sanitech curtailed its services in Philippi, Kosovo, due to threats from the extortion mafia demanding security fees.

The company spokeswoman said: ‘This is not new to us; we’ve seen it everywhere.

‘In Kosovo the threats continued for six weeks and we had to make the difficult decision to enter the area once a week, under city escort.

‘Instead of the toilets being cleaned four times a week, this has consequences for the service.’

According to the DA, extortionists targeted six provincial government construction sites worth a total of R390,823,630, resulting in projects being delayed by up to three years.

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This mainly concerned housing construction and educational developments.

DA Western Cape Infrastructure Spokesperson Dirk Wessels said: “Extortion is not only a criminal attack on government projects, but also a direct attack on the communities that are waiting for these essential services.”

“The DA is determined to work tirelessly to support the efforts of the Western Cape Government to ensure that these perpetrators are brought to justice. We will not allow criminal elements to disrupt service delivery.”

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Image: Theo Jeptha / Die Burger / Gallo Images