Spaza shops targeted by extortionists in KZN

Although construction sites are affected by extortion in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), spaza shops are the most affected businesses, said provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on Wednesday.

The top police management appeared before the portfolio committee on police in parliament to present the third quarter crime statistics for 2024/25.

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Extortion is rife in provinces such as the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Though extortionists initially targeted construction sites, the practice has extended to smaller businesses and households.

Extortion at spaza shops

In KZN spaza shops are the most targeted, said Mkhwanazi.

“There are a lot of informal settlements in KwaZulu-Natal and tuck shops that are run by foreign nationals — Pakistanis in the main,” Mkhwanazi told the committee.

“The youngsters in KwaZulu-Natal and people migrating from the city to the semi-rural areas to avoid rates. These areas are run by traditional leaders.

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“So they just give a case of beers, a bottle of whisky or anything else, and they’re given a piece of land. They are able to set up big mansions in those areas, whereas there are challenges with regards to the human settlement design in the area.

“Some of them have no proper roads to access them, and some of them have challenges with electricity. Because of that, a lot of economic activities take place in those areas.

Cash transactions

“These shops are growing in those areas, and not only the tuck shops, you end up finding these buildings that are selling building materials because construction projects are quite big in those areas, so they bring these building materials close to sell to people. So there is a lot of cash that is being used and extortion then becomes rife in those areas.

“Construction sites are affected by extortion, and the main targets are these businesses operating in these semi-rural areas. The other crimes, including rape and murder, are also rife in those areas, especially Inanda.”

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The crime stats, released on Friday, revealed that between October 2024 and December 2024, the country recorded 69 murders. Of these, 24 were recorded in KZN, followed by Western Cape with 18 and Gauteng with 12.

About 124 attempted murder cases were recorded in spaza shops, and 500 cases of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.