Two bandiete from Pollsmoor Prison have been busted for extorting a fellow inmate and demanding protection money while in the mang.
The two alleged members of the Hard Livings gang from Tafelsig are accused of demanding R1000 a week and even creating fake Facebook accounts to scam mense by claiming to sell meat parcels.
According to a source, the two bandiete were taken to Wynberg Magistrates Court on Friday after they were charged while in jail by detectives from the Provincial Organised Crime Unit.
The source explains the duo are awaiting-trial prisoners and were first sent to the mang in August 2022.
Their victim was sentenced for fraud and imprisoned in June 2023, where he met the two.
They apparently demanded R1000 per week which the victim’s family had to pay via cash sends or bank deposits.
When the victim stopped paying, his house was broken into and the suspects informed him that they had arranged the burglary as a warning, and continued to further extort him.
The victim’s Gmail account and picture was also used by the suspects to create social media profiles where they sold meat to the public and while money was paid, the buyers never got the goods.
Police spokesperson, Sergeant Wesley Twigg, confirms the duo’s arrest and says it comes amid ongoing efforts to curb extortion in the Western Cape.
Twigg says: “The investigation revealed that the two suspects operated from prison, extorting their victim who had to pay protection fees on a weekly basis.
“They also created a false Facebook account and used the victim’s identity to sell products of which the buyers never received the products.
“The two suspects aged 23 and 24 were arrested by the Provincial Organised Crime Detectives and appeared in the Wynberg Magistrates court on Friday. They were remanded in custody.”
However, Department of Correctional Services (DCS) spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo, says they are not aware of the arrests of these two inmates and according to the prison records the suspects were admitted at Pollsmoor Prison in August 2022 for charges under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
Nxumalo explains: “They appeared in court on 25 October for the said cases. They are expected to appear in court again on 8 November for the same crimes.
“Pollsmoor had 43 extortion cases as on 25 October and the two inmates do not appear on the list.”
Nxumalo says no investigation was conducted as their records do not contain extortion charges.
He adds: “Furthermore, it needs to be mentioned that no electronic devices were found in the possession of these inmates during searching operations that are conducted from time to time.”