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- Police Minister Bheki Cele appointed a special steering committee to crack down on protection money scams in Cape Town.
- He described extortionists’ demands for protection money from restaurants, clubs and now coffee shops as “organized crime” with threats of violence if they don’t pay.
- The announcement comes after the city of Cape Town and the provincial government called for help after the owner of the Long Street Brewery spoke from abroad.
Police Minister Bheki Cele has announced a special steering committee to crack down on renewed demands for “protection money” from suspected criminals that are hitting many clubs, restaurants and bars in Cape Town.
Cele said the demands for protection money were “nothing less than organized crime” and asked the victims to make official complaints to the police.
This after a high-level meeting was held at the Western Cape Police Headquarters between Cele; The falcons head General Godfrey Lebeya; Cele’s deputy, Cassel Mathale; the Commissioner of the National Police, General Khehla Sitole; MMC JP Smith of Community Security of the City of Cape Town and Albert Fritz of provincial Community Security, among others.
This after Randolf Jorberg, the owner of Beerhouse on Cape Town’s famous Long Street entertainment strip, left South Africa and spoke out about alleged lawsuits of up to R20,000 from alleged mobsters since the resumption of the Level 2 lockdown.
‘Intimidated’
Cele said Wednesday: “… Businesses, particularly restaurants and cafes in Cape Town, predominantly in the city, are being bullied into paying what are called protection fees,” adding:
Let me tell you that we take this situation very seriously as this [not] it is only a crime, but it also impacts the grand economic strategy of this country at a time when the nation is working hard to revitalize our economy.
He added that Cape Town, like the rest of the country, was under considerable pressure after the doors had to close during the Covid-19 shutdown.
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“While on the one hand we are trying to revive the economy, these allegations are emerging that thugs and criminals are exacerbating the situation by demanding money for the protection of legitimate businesses.
“We certainly cannot allow this to happen under our supervision.”
Agencies
Cele said that all government agencies would work together and that, if necessary, the South African Tax Service, the Special Investigation Unit and the Financial Intelligence Center would be tied down.
He added that the National Prosecutor’s Office would also receive assistance to strengthen cases as it takes cases to court and unsolved cases are reopened.
However, Cele said that in order for the extortion to end, companies must report it to the police.
So far they had only received one recent official complaint.
He said:
I call this a project because at the end of the day this victimization and extortion from companies will end.
Cele said Cape Town was already among the most violent cities in the world and responsible for the largest drug orders in the country.
He added that the Anti-Gang Unit was already active and that the South African National Defense Force was still in place in the province.
When asked if there would be enough police officers after the province declared a dispute over resources, Fritz said his focus now was purely working together to end extortion.
Cele and the officials took a walk down Long Street, causing a commotion with a long convoy of police vehicles, as Smith displayed Cele’s businesses that had been affected.
