With the Protection Fee Mafia being rampant in parts of the country, EFF MP, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, slammed Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s strategies to tackle extortionists.

Mchunu told Parliament on Tuesday that his ministry formulated operations that are to target extortion hotspots, listing the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Kwazulu-Natal. Protection fee syndicates accounted for 73% of the crime.

The minister mentioned the practice of extortion mafias stemmed from socio-economic challenges, where the poor turned to crime to survive the economy.

“The modus operandi of the perpetrators involved in these heinous crimes is well known. Most of these individuals are people who do not want to work, but rather choose to parade as armies of parasites that must be fought and rejected by society as a whole. They are often armed, operating in groups, instilling fear and chaos. The relative silence of communities and low reporting is due to fear,” said Mchunu.

Emphasising the Protection Fee Mafia was thriving, and continued to subject defenceless community members, Ndlozi said the minister's crime prevention strategies were redundant, similar to the sixth administration's police ministry under Bheki Cele.

Ndlozi accused the minister for “not paying attention” to the gravity of extortion prevailing.

“I don't think the people of South Africa are confident that the police are going to attack extortionists. What is your plan? You are going to work with provinces and sign agreements. That has been done before. You are going to work with Crime Prevention Forums (CPFs) and security companies, that has been done before,” said Ndlozi.

The first quarter crime statistics of 2024 between April and June stipulated that extortion crimes doubled from 13 from the previous financial year to 30 cases this year. Thus, Ndlozi said the minister had no comprehensive crime and prevention strategies.

Mchunu entered as the first police minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU). Therefore, Ndlozi claimed the minister's crime strategies were a PR stunt to portray a well-run broad coalition government.

“You don't have the strategy against these heinous crimes. You only come to parliament for PR exercise. This GNU whatsoever is not going to succeed if it is obsessed with the media. You must have a comprehensive strategy based on the experiences of South Africans to combat crime. Don’t come here for a PR stunt,” said Ndlozi.

He instructed Mchunu to “speak with action”, instead of a runaround speech.

Ndlozi stated the police, MPs and the police ministry were out of touch with crime experienced by ordinary South Africans in non-gated communities.

Hence, he believed community members remained sceptical of Mchunu's crime prevention methods.

“The people of South Africa don’t want to hear that you don't know these criminals. You (minister and MPs) are the only people who don’t know these criminals that are extorting communities. Only the police in SA are claiming ignorance; our people know these criminals. The reason the police are claiming ignorance is because they are embedded. Correctional services are embedded. You don't have the strategy against these heinous crimes,” said Ndlozi.

Build One South Africa (Bosa) leader and MP, Mmusi Maimane concurred with Ndlozi, stressing police response to crime was unreliable.

He claimed the police were also part of extortion syndicates, threatening public security.

“Citizens recognise this difficult issue that when they call the police, sometimes they don’t show up, and sometimes they are demanding bribes themselves. The worst fear a citizen can feel is not just facing extortion or being robbed, but the fear that even if the police come, there is no help,” said Maimane.

Ndlozi urged designated ministers to build infrastructure, which would create jobs, adding Mchunu’s ministry to introduce modern technologies to cripple crime.

Maimane added: “Increase the budget as we need a new capacity of police, fix our police stations to give a sense of security and hope to our people. The ministry must work with the Department of Justice to absorb more prison arrests.”

The Star

hope.mafu@inl.co.za