The City of Cape Town has taken further steps to tackle extortion in the building industry. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has launched the Anti-Extortion campaign in Khayelithsa, encouraging residents to report extortion.

The city-wide Campaign was launched on Thursday under the slogan Enough is Enough! / Genoeg is Genoeg! / Kwanele!

The Mayor visited an extortion impacted project to construct new MyCiTi depots in Khayelitsha for the launch.

This massive project is at the heart of operations for the second phase of the MyCiTi bus service.

Interference with multiple contractors and extortion attempts since May have set the project back by several weeks.

As part of the campaign, the City has set up a 24-hour hotline (0800 00 6992) and rewards system to encourage residents to help the City and the authorities to tackle extortion, with billboards set to be rolled out along major routes showing how to report. Reporting can be anonymous.

Hill-Lewis says demands for “protection fees” from local extortionists are impeding both basic service delivery and major infrastructure projects.

We are determined to prevent disruptions to services by partnering with communities as our eyes and ears to root out local extortionists, and paying out cash rewards for valuable tip-offs leading to arrest and prosecution.

Due to the ongoing extortion threats law enforcement has been regularly escorting City teams and contractors on request in hotspot areas, and additional project security requirements have been built into project contracts.

Staff and contractors are under instruction to make sure that any extortion attempts are reported to authorities every single time, so that a case record can be built against the criminals harming the interests of communities.

Extortion is large-scale organised crime run by well-oiled and very lucrative syndicates. The only way to stand up for ourselves is to stand together against these criminals.

 

A total of R110 million human settlements project work has also been impacted in 23/24.

Various City projects currently impacted by extortion as at October 2023 include:

• ACSA Housing Construction (Delft) – Work currently disrupted, with reported cases of attempted murder, murder, and arson
• Delft select roadworks – Work currently disrupted, with a reported case of murder
• MyCiti construction site (Spine Road) – Work going ahead after extortion-related delays
• Beacon Valley housing – Work disrupted, with reported cases of intimidation and arson
• Lentegeur Pedestrian bridge – Work proceeding following reported cases of theft and intimidation
• Eastridge high-voltage cable relocation – Work proceeding after disruptions
• Bishop Lavis roadworks – Work disrupted with reported cases of intimidation
• Edward Street works (Ottery) – Work proceeding after disruptions

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