The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) released a report in April discussing the main extortion economies in Cape Town’s CBD. These economies were investigated, and they include the central business district's (CBD) night-time extortion economy, Cape Town’s construction mafia, the transport extortion economy, and the township enterprise extortion economy.
According to the dictionary, extortion is the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats. The offence is not defined in South African legislation. According to the report, the police use extortion until someone submits to them.
Mervyn Menigo of the National Prosecuting Authority explained that people think that they must be threatened with death before they can make a case. Even if a victim of extortion refuses to succumb to the demands, it is still a crime and considered attempted extortion.
The Shadow Economy report states that victims often avoid reporting the crime, as they do not want people to know that they agreed to the perpetrator’s demands, mixed with fear and intimidation. These factors contribute to the normalization of the practice.
A 32-year-old man says that he was beaten up and robbed by police officers on Saturday at about 9 pm in Luyoloville in Gugulethu, opposite Heideveld train station.
He says that he bought something at the shop when nine vans pulled up. They asked him, Where are the drugs? He said that he doesn’t have anything, and that is when about seven or eight ‘coloured’ officers started to hit me.
The man suffered injuries to his head, face, and hip. Police spokesperson Captain FC Van Wyk confirms that a case has been opened for investigation. He says that the mentioned case number is an assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH) case registered for investigation. IPID will be investigating.
Police brutality is nothing new in South Africa, especially with people in lower-income areas.
National police commissioner General Fannie Masemola says the SAPS is ready for the elections. Masemola says that they have made a lot of preparations. The police and they are aware of their obligations. In terms of the Constitution, they must investigate and prevent crime and ensure public order.
They are obligated to uphold the law. The South African Council of Churches (SACC) general secretary, Reverend Mzwandile Molo, says that everyone adopted this constitution to heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on the democratic values of South Africa. We hear from political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi on The Big Debate SA about what the constitution means to him.
