Emboldened Extortionists Pose a Threat to Cape Town Residents as Key Projects Meant to Uplift Communities Are Targeted by Gangs
Angela Sobey
ActionSA Western Cape Premier Candidate
ActionSA calls for urgent intervention as criminal gangs blatantly attempt to disrupt the delivery of services, especially in key City operations and infrastructure projects, particularly housing initiatives, which have borne the brunt of ruthless extortionist gangs.
Therefore, we will be writing to both the MEC’s of Community Safety and the MEC for Public Works to ascertain what steps the Provincial Government will take to address this phenomenon, which ActionSA believes qualifies as economic sabotage that threatens our ability to provide services to our communities.
We have long expressed concern about the criminal gangs who operate with near impunity, making demands either to be onboarded as contractors or extorting protection money. In the latest episode, which highlights just how emboldened these gangs have become while law enforcement is on the backfoot, City staff in the Urban Waste Department report that criminal gangs have threatened them with demands for protection money.
No society can function where lawlessness is the order of the day, a reality that finds no truer expression than when we measure the impact on service delivery, where buses are torched, ambulances unable to operate freely in red zoned areas and infrastructure projects that are delayed or abandoned.
Lest we forget that City officials have been implicated as collaborators in the extortionist gangs attempt to milk the municipality, most notably former Human Settlements MMC, whose offices were raided by the police on account of allegations that was the recipient of cash payments from these gangs.
ActionSA has maintained that a tough, zero-tolerance approach to criminality and corruption is the only way in which we break the stranglehold of gangs who not only terrorise communities but also constrain the upliftment of our most vulnerable residents.
Emboldened Extortionists Pose a Threat to Cape Town Residents as Key Projects Meant to Uplift Communities Are Targeted by Gangs
ActionSA calls for urgent intervention as criminal gangs blatantly attempt to disrupt the delivery of services, especially in key City operations and infrastructure projects, particularly housing initiatives, which have borne the brunt of ruthless extortionist gangs.
Therefore, we will be writing to both the MEC’s of Community Safety and the MEC for Public Works to ascertain what steps the Provincial Government will take to address this phenomenon, which ActionSA believes qualifies as economic sabotage that threatens our ability to provide services to our communities.
We have long expressed concern about the criminal gangs who operate with near impunity, making demands either to be onboarded as contractors or extorting protection money. In the latest episode, which highlights just how emboldened these gangs have become while law enforcement is on the backfoot, City staff in the Urban Waste Department report that criminal gangs have threatened them with demands for protection money.
No society can function where lawlessness is the order of the day, a reality that finds no truer expression than when we measure the impact on service delivery, where buses are torched, ambulances unable to operate freely in red zoned areas and infrastructure projects that are delayed or abandoned.
Lest we forget that City officials have been implicated as collaborators in the extortionist gangs attempt to milk the municipality, most notably former Human Settlements MMC, whose offices were raided by the police on account of allegations that was the recipient of cash payments from these gangs.
ActionSA has maintained that a tough, zero-tolerance approach to criminality and corruption is the only way in which we break the stranglehold of gangs who not only terrorise communities but also constrain the upliftment of our most vulnerable residents.