Extortion in South Africa drives up construction costs

DW (English)

South African businesses are battling an alarming increase in extortion attempts. The country’s construction industry is particularly prone to attempts by organized gangs to demand large sums of money. DW reports from Cape Town.

Transcript

00:00Armed guards keep watch over this construction site in Drift Sands, Cape Town.

00:06Work is at a standstill here, with security brought in after gang members showed up,

00:13threatening violence if they weren't given money and jobs.

00:17One of the first things that we noticed when we got here was how tense the situation is.

00:21Even the provincial officials were looking around, they were nervous,

00:25and there are a number of security people on site with weapons, large weapons,

00:31who are guarding the site for two things.

00:34Firstly, to ensure that no residents invade the site and build structures here illegally,

00:40but they're also on the lookout for extortion gangs who have previously come to the site

00:46demanding payment and demanding that certain people get hired as part of the project.

00:53Contractor Mpomoloi says it's part of an ongoing problem.

00:59We were stopped yesterday. We were here yesterday to hire,

01:03to actually hire the employees from the community, but we were stopped.

01:07It feels unsafe.

01:09At least half a dozen other sites across Cape Town have been threatened.

01:14These are government construction projects.

01:17Officials say, at this location alone, they'll have to pay 82,000 euros each month for security.

01:26This unplanned cost has put a dent in the project's budget.

01:30We have a site that has been left vacant, or the contractor walked off site,

01:37which is now more than 19 months.

01:39We have seen a school which was earmarked for upgrading again because of the criminal activities

01:44and the demand for safety money or security money from these racketeering groups.

01:50That's just two of the six examples in the city of Cape Town.

01:53In the last six years, there's been a massive spike in the number of reported cases of extortion.

01:59They have more than doubled.

02:02In response, South African police have created a dedicated extortion task force

02:07focused on making arrests.

02:10Police say they're dealing with organized crime groups.

02:15We also have projects that are running that are focusing on those that are the organizers of this

02:21and benefiting from it without being involved.

02:25People from the local communities often don't want to speak up.

02:28Making it difficult for police to get convictions.

02:33The challenge is that your organized crime groups quite often support the community.

02:41The leader in the area will provide resources to the grandmas in that area.

02:52So it's very difficult in that respect for the community to stand up

02:58because they're privileged from or they get resources, food, anything from the syndicates.

03:09Now with the security team in place, work is on track to resume at this site.

03:14But extortion continues to drive up costs and fear in South African communities, striving for progress.

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