The Brakpan SAPS Sector 1 manager, Constable Audrey Buthelezi, Sector 2 manager, Constable Zunaid Rustoff and CPF patrollers assisted each other in educating the Plastic City informal settlement residents about a criminal activity making waves in their community.
Plastic City falls in Sector 1, and Buthelezi, while trying to create a relationship with community members, picked up rumours of community members who make others pay amounts of cash, claiming it is a protection fee. The payments must be monthly, and the self-proclaimed protectors visit each household for collection.
The door-to-door awareness campaign saw pamphlets on extortion handed out and posters erected at spaza shops.
The Plastic City residents were happy to see the law enforcers and agreed that they were indeed paying, but no one would talk more about it and neither did they want to point out the culprits for fear for their lives.
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Extortion is a criminal offence where a person illegally obtains money, property or services from another by threatening harm or using coercive measures.
The harm can be physical, property damage, accusations or the exposure of sensitive information. The types of extortion are blackmail, protection rackets, and cyber/internet and financial extortion.
The culprit will threaten people to instil fear in them, then demand money, property or services while they force the victim to comply.
Community members must look out for people making unsolicited demands, having threatening behaviour, putting pressure on others and making illegal proposals.
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If anyone notices such, they should stay calm, record or document everything and report it immediately to their local authorities.
The SAPS warn the public not to give in to these criminals or comply with their demands. By reporting the crime, the victims will receive support and counselling because this can affect them mentally.
Anyone found guilty of extortion could pay penalties, depending on the extent of the crime, or, if they were violent or did harm, receive a lengthy jail term. The culprit might be ordered to pay for damages or loss caused by their act of criminality.
Even though the community members did not want to speak out, they were happy the police came and addressed the sensitive issue. Buthelezi gave her contact numbers to the individuals and encouraged them to stand against criminals.
