Protection Mafia is Terror! | Daily Sun

Vendors in Cappe Town pay protection fees, but receive no assistance if they are robbed.

SELLERS forced by gangsters to pay protection fees say they are not getting the protection they pay for.

When they are robbed, the security mafias cannot help them if they cannot identify the suspects.

A 25-year-old street vendor from Kraaifontein, who runs a tshisanyama in Wallacedene with his father, said his customers were robbed of their phones while they were eating.

He said he quickly called the Protection Commission, who collected R800 from him on Thursday, August 15. However, they told him they were from Khayelitsha and would not be handling his case.

“They said they were not in Kraaifontein and were only protecting Khayelitsha. I was shocked because they had collected money from us days before, only to tell us that they were not protecting our area. These people are not protecting anything, they are taking our money,” the street vendor said.

Another fruit and vegetable seller in the same area said she now sets aside R1000 each month for protection costs alone.

She said that at first they only paid to one group, but now there are several groups.

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“We have to pay double for different groups. At first I refused to pay and told them that I had paid the day before, but they told me that the group that collected from me was different from theirs. They ordered me to pay within three days or I would be injured,” she said.

On Tuesday, August 20, a 64-year-old woman, Nophumelele Makeleni, was shot dead at her stall, allegedly for paying the protection fee.

The City of Cape Town has launched an anti-extortion campaign with the slogan ‘Enough is Enough’, urging people to report such incidents.

“When reporting, please include the subject matter as ‘extortion’, ‘intimidation’, ‘blackmail’ or ‘protection money’. We encourage anonymous tips. Our safety and security teams will do everything they can to protect you and investigate the matter for further action,” the City of Cape Town said.

Residents are urgently requested to use the tip line, 0800 00 6992, which is open 24/7.

Cape Town police have also urged people in the Western Cape to call the SAPS toll-free extortion hotline on (021) 466 0011 or CrimeStop on 08600 10111.