The quarterly crime statistics, released last week, have revealed that extortion has more than doubled, with Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal leading in the number of cases in the country.
Crime experts say extortion syndicates vary and include land, housing, construction and taxi mafia, among others.
The 2024/25 financial year first quarter stats released by Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on Friday shows extortion rose from 13 cases between April and June 2023 to 30 cases for the same period this year.
Gauteng had the highest number with 13 incidents this year and KZN has four compared to 2023 where these provinces had seven and two cases, respectively.
Crime experts say extortionists are extremely dangerous and their targets, in fear for their safety, fail to report these crimes to the police.
Chad Thomas, an organised crime investigator from IRS Forensic Investigations, said extortion, much like certain types of kidnapping, is under-reported as the victims don’t want further violent repercussions from the syndicates operating these rackets.
“IRS Forensic Investigations currently has a case where a Gauteng business installing fibre in KZN was intimidated. When payment was refused to the ‘construction mafia’ or ‘business forum’, the syndicate drove from KZN to the company’s head office in Gauteng and invaded their offices stealing equipment worth over R3 million.”
Thomas said extortion is particularly active in the construction industry countrywide; in the restaurant and entertainment industry in the Western Cape and now informal traders in rural areas, townships and informal settlements who are “taxed” by the extortion syndicate on a weekly basis.
KZN violence monitor Mary de Haas agreed that “people are too scared to talk about extortion”.
She said extortion takes various forms and also involves housing and land syndicates who sell land that is privately owned or part of a trust. In one case a family member of one of the people who took the case to court, “was kidnapped as a warning to stop it”.
In other cases, criminals threaten to move on to land if payment is not made. De Haas said people also fail to report these incidents because they know some criminals have contacts in the police.
The Mercury