Two police officers and the bodyguard of a deputy minister are among the 106 people arrested for extortion in Cape Town.
This was revealed by Police Minister Bheki Cele on Thursday when he addressed the media on the progress made by the committee working on extortion rackets in the province.
“105 cases have been opened since January 2020 to date, 67 cases are still under investigation and 106 people linked to extortion cases have been arrested and charged, while seven individuals are currently out on bail, and 94 of those arrested remain in custody,” said Cele.
Saps’ Novela Potelwa said the bodyguard was on the protection detail of the deputy Minister of Defence, Thabang Makwetla, and was nabbed on 14 March.
And 20 of the cases were opened in Khayelitsha while the Nyanga policing cluster recorded 13 of the cases.
In September last year, individuals and businessmen in the Cape Town metropole raised the alarm around the growing phenomenon of extortion rackets and protection fees.
Randolf Jorberg, the owner of Beerhouse and chairperson of the Long Street Association, spoke out about the protection fee racket on behalf of other local business owners, because he was out of the country and felt safer.
Cele said: “At the time, the extortion rackets seemed to be targeting formal businesses such as eateries and restaurants and bars.”
But upon closer inspection, they found that criminals were not sparing informal businesses, the transport industry or construction sites, he said.
A hotline for reporting extortion was launched and Cele says the success of this can be seen with the number of arrests made in a short period.
Cele then lauded the arrest and conviction of Shantel Reynecke, 47, the head of a brothel syndicate who was sentenced to 20 years behind bars for extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking and assault.
The operation crumbled after 10 suspects were busted by the Hawks in 2017.
The group’s modus operandi included grooming and recruiting young women and girls to work in brothels and then forcing them to commit crimes including extorting clients.
“Investigations are ongoing and we are expecting more arrests to take place. The integrated approach and sharing of resources is owed to these arrests,” said Cele.
The acting director for community safety in the province, Louis Brown, pleaded with the public to work with the police.
“One of the major issues is that communities are not reporting to the police and we ask them to come forward with information that might help the police.”
velani.ludidi@inl.co.za