Cape Town - In an attempt to curb extortion, Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has launched a city-wide anti-extortion campaign in Khayelitsha under the slogan “Enough is Enough! Genoeg is Genoeg! Kwanele!”
The launch took place at an extortion-impacted project to construct new MyCiTi depots in Khayelitsha.
He was accompanied by Mayco members for safety and security, JP Smith, urban mobility Rob Quintas, as well as local councillors.
Smith said in the next few weeks there would be arrests.
“We are about to make arrests, watch this space over the next couple of weeks, and we are working with SAPS to make sure those people responsible for this are brought to book and that they can’t keep on doing this, so that we can remove these security services and send them to fighting crime in the communities we need to.”
Hill-Lewis said demands for “protection fees” from local extortionists were impeding basic service delivery and major infrastructure projects.
“We are determined to prevent disruptions to services by partnering with communities as our eyes and ears to root out local extortionists, and paying out cash rewards for valuable tip-offs leading to arrest and prosecution.
“With a record R11bn infrastructure budget in 23/24 – 73% of which will directly benefit lower income households – we have staff and contractors working on the ground more than ever, especially in vulnerable communities impacted by crime.
“We cannot afford project delays due to criminal activity. That’s why the aim of the Enough campaign is to increase public reporting of extortion activity, with specialised City investigators feeding this information into the SAPS anti-extortion unit.”
Hill-Lewis added that Law Enforcement was also regularly escorting City teams and contractors, on request, in hot spot areas, and additional project security requirements had been built into project contracts.
“Our staff and contractors are under instruction to make sure that any extortion attempts are reported to authorities every single time, so that we build a case record and push back against the criminals harming the interests of communities.
“Extortion is large-scale organised crime run by well-oiled and very lucrative syndicates. The only way to stand up for ourselves is to stand together against these criminals
“The campaign launch was held at the construction of new MyCiTi depots in Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain, a massive project at the heart of operations for the second phase of the MyCiTi bus service. Interference with multiple contractors and extortion attempts since May have set the project back by several weeks, as part of a broader R60 million in transport project work impacted by extortion delays. A total of R110 million human settlements project work has also been impacted in 23/24.”
Smith added it was not conceivable that all contractors would have a police escort when moving around.
“It drives up your cost. We now have R55m in private security and R30m in City enforcement staff.
“The problem is we have too much space that has to be protected and hence the comments about the need to get ahead of this on a prosecutorial level. These syndicates are few … We have to get convictions, we have to get people reporting extortion.”
The City has set up a 24-hour hotline (0800 00 6992) and rewards system to encourage residents to help the City and the authorities tackle extortion, with billboards set to be rolled out along major routes showing how to report. Reporting can be anonymous.
“There will be billboards across the City, we are going to put pamphlets out around our major construction sites and areas where waste services staff were threatened. We want to get the word out,” Hill-Lewis said.