Criminal mafias in the crosshairs of new police minister in South Africa – BusinessTech

The newly appointed police minister, Senzo Mchunu, said that funding would be allocated to fight crimes impacting economic activity, warning extortion mafias—especially in construction.

According to the State Investigating Unit (SIU), the extortion mafia refers to extortion groups that seek to forcefully extract protection fees from public projects and local construction companies.

They can also extort a portion of the cost of an infrastructure project or allow members of the mafia to work on the site.

These mafias are estimated to cost the economy around R68 billion.

The evidence of their proliferation is that these groups are embedded in all major sectors, including Eskom, Transnet, water and sanitation, and the construction industry, with incidents spanning across the major provinces.

Deon van Zyl, chair of the Western Cape Property Developers Forum, also noted that construction mafias target public projects far more than private ones due to cumbersome government processes like procurement.

Unlike private sector projects, where individuals or teams work throughout an entire project, public projects are often a “relay,” where several departments carry out certain roles throughout the process. Van Zyl said that this leaves many projects as “sitting ducks.”

The CEO of Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), Busi Mavuso, previously warned that organised crime is fast emerging as the biggest threat to South Africa’s economy.

Mavuso said that crime syndicates, which have already captured large industries across various sectors, are now more damaging than bad policy or service delivery failures.

To protect the country’s economy from criminal activities, Mchunu said the economic infrastructure task teams—supported by organised crime investigation capabilities—will focus on combating crimes such as illegal mining, infrastructure-related crimes and extortion in all business sectors, particularly the construction sector.

Specialised capabilities, including the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, forensic services, and crime intelligence, are said to be able to address these issues with internal and external stakeholders effectively.

“Efforts to tackle organised crime, money laundering, and terror financing will continue in line with recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force.

“There is an urgent need for a more strategic and consolidated response to organised crime, which imposes a real existential threat to our economy and democracy,” he said.

“These initiatives will be implemented through the Detective Services Programme and the Crime Intelligence Programme, with respective budgets of R71.3 billion and R15.1 billion over the medium term,” Mchunu added.

The Minister underscored the importance of increasing efforts to identify and remove gangs and criminal groups involved in drug-related and extortion crimes and restoring safety and order in the affected communities.

He maintained that targeting the criminal networks will disrupt the supply chains and operations that fuel violence and instability.

“Enhanced intelligence gathering, dedicated task forces, and collaborative operations with other law enforcement agencies will strengthen the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) ability to combat organised crime effectively,” Mchunu said.

The new minister said that additional funding allowed the SAPS to enlist 10,000 employees during the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 budget periods.

He added that additional funding will allow the department to appoint another 10,000 police trainees for the current financial year.

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