Police Minister Senzo Mchunu believes the fight against extortion rackets will only be won with a strengthened SAPS intelligence capacity.
His comment – made when he delivered his executive statement in the National Assembly on actions taken by the police to deal with threats posed by extortionists – came only hours after six suspects were killed in a shoot-out with the police in the South Beach, Point area of Durban just before midnight on Monday.
Police were tracing suspects who shot five people and killed four of them execution style on Siyaphambili Road in Tshelimnyama, Mariannhill, on Sunday night, according to KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda.
“Police followed information that the suspects were in hiding in Newlands East and upon arrival, further intelligence was collected that the suspects were at a rented holiday apartment on South Beach Avenue in the Point area of Durban.
“When police announced their presence at the apartment, the suspects opened fire and a shoot-out ensued.
All six suspects were shot and fatally wounded during the shootout. No police officer sustained any injuries,” he said.
Netshiunda said the suspects were also linked to a triple murder near a tuckshop on Minitown main road in Mpumalanga township, Hammarsdale, on Friday afternoon.
“They were also linked with a Friday evening robbery at a shop on the ground floor of the apartment they were found in. It is also suspected that the suspects were involved in the illicit drug trade.
“Prior to a thorough search of the apartment, police had found three firearms in the possession of the suspects.
The firearms will be subjected to ballistic testing to ascertain if they could be linked to other crime scenes. Police are also hot on the heels of the person who booked the room for the deceased suspects,” said Netshiunda.
In Parliament on Tuesday, Mchunu referred to extortionists as “armies of murderous parasites” who operate in groups that spread fear, asserting that society must unite to combat and reject them.
“The relative ‘silence’ of communities and low reporting is all due to these fears.”
The recently released crime statistics for the period between April and June showed 30 extortion cases were reported in the Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Eastern Cape – which Mchunu labelled as carrying 73% of the crime.
The crime statistics showed that Gauteng recorded 13 cases, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with four, and three each in Western Cape and Eastern Cape.
Mchunu said that the government has initiated the signing of co-operative agreements with provincial and local governments with operational plans to integrate resources against crime.
The operational plan is being rolled out in Cape Town with its new six sub-districts. While parties unanimously condemned extortion, some felt Mchunu’s address fell short of their expectations.
EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said Mchunu did not pay attention to the gravity of extortion.
“He came and spoke ... There is no comprehensive crime prevention strategy.
Until that happens, you are to run after the fact, after extortion has happened,” he said.
National Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams said that Mchunu said very little and that extortion was born out of economic exclusion.
“It is a socio-economic problem. SAPS is on the wrong end of it,” Adams said.
The DA’s Ian Cameron described extortion as a national crisis that acted as an additional, illegal tax on an already strained economy.
“We need specialised law enforcement units focused on combating extortion and organised crime, capable of gathering intelligence, infiltrating syndicates, and ensuring robust prosecutions,” he said.
Responding to the parliamentarians, Mchunu said: “We are going to confront crime and use whatever means to deal with it so that we have a crime-free South Africa. It is important that our children and all of us as South Africans are free of criminality,” Mchunu said.
The Mercury