Parliament, Wednesday, 26 March 2025 – The Portfolio Committee on Police is concerned by the trust deficit between the South African Police Service, victims of extortion and stakeholders, which has negatively impacted on the ability of SAPS to investigate extortion cases. The committee today concluded its oversight visit to Eastern Cape where the committee visited Umtata and East London.
“What has come out strongly in our engagements with stakeholders and victims of extortion is the complete lack of trust in the SAPS. This is caused by lack of commitment to actively fight crime on the side of the police and the perception that some rogue elements within the service participate in the extortion rings,” said Mr Ian Cameron, the Chairperson of the committee.
While the committee acknowledges that rebuilding trust is a process and takes time, it reiterated the need for the SAPS to enhance consequence management within its ranks to ensure that corrupt police officers are arrested and prosecuted. The committee is convinced that stronger enforcement of consequence management, lifestyle audits for SAPS members and a skills audit of all senior managers will go a long way to creating a platform for the process of rebuilding trust to start.
The committee was also alarmed by stakeholders’ concerns about the lack of concrete collaboration with the SAPS to ensure joint efforts to fight extortion and criminality in general. The committee places a premium on a society-wide approach to fighting crime and is concerned by the worrying assertions that there is sometimes a lack of adequate information-sharing between the SAPS and stakeholders, which contributes to the minimal joint efforts to combat extortion. The committee has reiterated its call for collaboration if South Africa is to succeed in its crime fighting efforts.
Meanwhile, the committee raised alarm about the huge disparity between extortion cases reported and arrests in the Eastern Cape, which calls into question the effectiveness of interventions to combat this growing crime trend.
“While we welcome the adoption of a multidisciplinary approach to combat extortions, the numbers provide a bleak picture of the effectiveness of the approach in the context of the increasing cases of extortions. It is worrying that of the 158 cases reported for the 2024/25 financial year, only 60 arrests have been made,” said Mr Cameron. While the committee acknowledged that investigations are complicated processes that require time and resources, it emphasised the need for prosecutor-led investigations aimed at ensuring successful prosecution.
Meanwhile, the committee is also concerned about the high number of prank calls to the recently launched extortions hotline; the fact that almost half of the calls logged are fake disrupts the effectiveness of the hotline. “While we acknowledge that the police have no control over who calls the hotline, it has cautioned people against making fake calls that impede police work,” Mr Cameron said.
The committee also raised concerns about the unchecked role of the taxi industry in extortion cases, especially in the Eastern Cape. Despite numerous serious cases, including the murder of individuals associated with long-distance bus services and multiple court orders, there has been no meaningful law enforcement action around cases of extortion in the taxi industry. In line with this concern, the committee raised alarm that some elements within the SAPS are reported to be demanding protection fees, which negates their constitutional and legal role to protect.
The issue of illicit firearms remains one of the most worrying underlying factors flaming the scourge. There remains a worrying proliferation of firearms on our streets and without a clear and concerted effort to address this, these weapons will continue to be used to commit extortion.
Despite the commendable work by the SAPS National Intervention Unit and the Tactical Response Team, which was applauded by victims and businesses, the committee is of the view that major structural failures remain that encourage this crime trend to continue. The committee is concerned that the private security industry is being misused by criminal actors. For example, the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority has noted an increase in the registration of security companies to access firearms, a tactic now gaining a national presence. The committee welcomed the plans by PSiRA to counter this trend and has encouraged full implementation.
The committee was informed that there is high prevalence of hijacked state-owned buildings in Umtata and that these stifle the government’s intentions to grow the economy and create jobs.
Meanwhile the committee has called on the SAPS to heed the call made by the Eastern Cape Chamber of Business for policing reforms, including police rotation to prevent corruption, revival of the reservist programme, accommodation of SAPS officials in barracks and not in communities, and formalised relationships with vetted security companies as a tool to combat extortions.
Following the interactions in the Eastern Cape, the committee remains of the view that extortion continues to paralyse communities and businesses, and that SAPS and stakeholders are not responding with the necessary energy and urgency needed to combat this trend. The committee has emphasised that it will ensure accountability for SAPS managers entrusted with the responsibility to drive efforts to combat this crime trend.
Today, the committee moved to KwaZulu-Natal to assess the implementation of recommendations made by the 6th Parliament committee relating to the Forensic Science Lab in Durban. The committee will also visit various police stations in Durban on Thursday and Friday, including the Verulam, Inanda and Durban Central police stations to assess their efforts to combat crime.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON POLICE, MR IAN CAMERON.
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