SAPS deploys special teams to tackle extortion

File: Cocaine with razor blade and bank note.
The Colchester clinic in the Eastern Cape is dilapidated, with a collapsed ceiling, shattered windows and no doors.
CAPE TOWN – Extortion is a national crisis and it’s being dealt with at the highest level.
The SAPS top brass has outlined their intervention plans to combat extortion to the Portfolio Committee on Police.
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South Africa’s construction industry is a key driver of economic growth, development and employment.
But it’s seen a rise in extortionist criminal elements, known as construction mafias.
READ: Crime in SA | Efficacy of extortion hotline questioned
The Committee heard South Africa is increasingly seeing organised criminal groups emerging and targeting households and the construction sector in general.
ENCA senior reporter Ayesha Ismail filed this report.