The factors contributing to the entrenched nature of extortion in South Africa are linked to challenges such as corruption within the police service, a diminished public trust in government institutions and ineffective civil partnerships for the purpose of information sharing.
This is according to Gareth Newham, director of the Justice and Violence Prevention Programme at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).
While it is good news that the government is taking the crime of extortion seriously, he said the fact that it has taken so long for this long-standing problem to become a priority, shows that there are serious challenges in the state’s overall crime intelligence monitoring and response systems.
Newham said extortion has been a problem in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape for well over a decade, affecting various sectors such as the “night-time economy” in Cape Town and the construction and transport industries.
He said if the criminal justice and intelligence sectors had been operating effectively, they would already have the systems to identify and disrupt extortion networks wherever they emerge.
“The situation is now out of control and affects a vast section of the country’s economy, driving up costs, contributing to unemployment and hindering both international investment and domestic economic development,” he said.
Newham said once extortion becomes entrenched, international experience shows it is difficult to uproot.
He said the government needs to have a clear strategic plan that consists of preventative measures to build resilience in sectors or areas where extortion does not yet exist while strengthening law-enforcement measures in areas and for sectors where it does exist.
“Importantly, there is a need for a clear plan of action to strengthen the SAPS Crime Intelligence Division.
“This needs to be guided by a detailed performance and integrity audit of all those working in the SAPS Crime Intelligence Division with a key objective to remove all corrupt elements,” said Newham.
Zakhele Ndlovu, politics lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said there is reason to believe that some perpetrators of extortion are politically connected.
“Their brazenness suggests they have protection from certain leaders in government,” he said.
Ndlovu said the issue of extortion started off with people promoting black economic empowerment, and the high levels of lawlessness in South Africa have made it possible and easier for extortionists to mushroom and operate.
“It’s difficult to get rid of extortion syndicates because of the lack of political will. Some people in law-enforcement agencies are in cahoots with these criminal elements,” he said.
Social scientist Professor Ashwin Desai, from the University of Johannesburg, said the spaces to accumulate capital in South Africa are getting smaller and smaller.
As a result, Desai said, people seek new and inventive ways to make money.
“Extortion is one way. In the absence of confidence in law-enforcement authorities, people are vulnerable. They get threatened, they feel exposed, living life looking over their shoulders. And so they think ‘we comply and we can go on living”,” he said.
Desai said due to the eroded investigating capacity of the police, the chances are that if incidents are reported, victims will only increase their vulnerability.
Chad Thomas, an organised crime investigator from IRS Forensic Investigations, said it is important for communities to join forces with SAPS, provincial and local law enforcement, together with the private security industry to identify these syndicates and share information.
“There are too few intelligence members dealing with this massive deluge of crime,” he said.
The Mercury