PROTECTION RACKET THUGS EXPAND TURF

Schools and healthcare facilities also targeted by extortion syndicates, with doctor forced to close practice

Criminal syndicates in the Eastern Cape demanding protection money from businesses have now expanded into targeting even schools and healthcare facilities, resulting in businesspeople, doctors and school principals going into hiding.

In April, the SA Medical Association (Sama) appealed to provincial police commissioner Lt-gen Nomthetheleli Mene to intervene after East London doctors were attacked.

This week, Sama said it had escalated those calls to both former police minister Bheki Cele and his successor, Senzo Mchunu, but “regrettably, there has been no response from these ministries”.

In recent days, a Mthatha ophthalmology medical practice in the CBD has closed and schools have been threatened, while a businesswoman took to social media to share how she was forced to close her business after extortionists demanded more than R100,000 in protection fees.

Now Abathembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo has been roped in to help.

Several businesses in Mthatha were closed by their owners in response to coercion to pay up, but many owners fear reporting this to the police.

Those who choose to remain open say they live in fear.

Eastern Cape specialist ophthalmologist Dr Anele Yako announced the permanent closure of his busy practice at 37 Durham Street and went into hiding, citing threats to his life.

His elderly father, Sonwabo, 70, is left praying for his son’s safety.

“We never thought that our son, who has come home to invest and contribute to the community that raised him, would be a target of crime.

“People want him dead. Now my son is in hiding.

“People demanded money and threatened him with his life.

“Even we don’t know his whereabouts ... We last spoke to him last week.”

The distraught father said his son had reported the matter to police.

Posted at Yako’s practice, a note read: “Dear clients, patients, relatives and colleagues. This serves as formal notice to inform you and those concerned of the permanent closure of this ophthalmology practice as of August 13 2024.

“This office’s premature and permanent closure is due to hostile criminal activities that have threatened my life and wellbeing and have forced the premature ... closure of this ophthalmology medical practice, permanently ...

“I am obliged not to disclose my whereabouts at the moment of writing this notice.”

Yako opened the practice in 2019, the first SA ophthalmologist to come from Mthatha.

Sama vice-chair Prof Ames Dhai said the incident highlighted an increasing number of threats their members faced across the country.

“Sama strongly condemns the rising acts of crime against medical practitioners and other healthcare professionals.

“The impact of such violence on the healthcare sector is profound and multifaceted.

“High levels of violence or crime in healthcare settings not only deter individuals from entering the profession but also cause current healthcare workers to leave, further worsening existing shortages and compromising patient care ... within healthcare facilities — places that should be havens for healing and recovery,” Dhai said.

“While Sama continues to work with provincial authorities to address poor security management at healthcare facilities, we strongly recommend the development and implementation of a multi-sectorial strategy to protect healthcare workers from targeted crime.

“Without such interventions, the healthcare sector will continue to be jeopardised, and more doctors will feel threatened and seek safer refuge in foreign countries.”

On Tuesday, Dalindyebo will hold a meeting with schools in Mthatha West which are said to be affected by extortion.

The meeting will be held at Laphumikhwezi Primary, his spokesperson, Princess Ntando Dalindyebo, said.

“There are at least five schools — Laphumikhwezi, Polar Park, Mandela Park, Bambanani and Efata School for the Deaf & Blind — affected by extortion syndicates. We believe there are more.

“In one school, a deputy principal was assaulted. In another they hijacked the school hall.

“In one, they demanded a share of the school’s income from a network tower.

“In another, they stopped a water tank project, demanding a share.

“They come and threaten school principals with violence if they don’t cooperate. They have guns.

“The school principals were given an account to transfer school funds to.

“One of the school principals is in hiding after the threats.”

Meanwhile, five suspects including subheadwoman Nomlandelo Pamla, 44, Sithembiso Mbube, 46, Bongile Mnyanda, 44, Kani Boyse, 67, and Nkosiphendule Mseswa, 54, appeared in the Mthatha magistrate’s court on Monday on charges of extortion in connection with an alleged protection racket at the Efata School for the Deaf & Blind.

A medical doctor said: “I am scared. If I talk about this, it will make things worse and threaten my life.

“These people are well-known people. The big fish are known, even to police. They can kill.

“I rather co-operate with them. It is even difficult to trust the police. “These people are well-connected.” An unnamed Mthatha businesswoman, complaining she was a victim of extortion, wrote on Facebook about an ordeal that led to the abrupt closure of her business.

“For the past six months, I have been paying an amount of R100k as a protection fee. I have been tortured and my family has been walking on eggshells ... I’m letting go, and it’s hard.

“I am thinking of relocating to Gauteng. I just want to recover ... I am hurting, criminals have overwhelmed us.”

In another post on Facebook, a fuel station owner said extortionists had demanded R350,000 a month.

Police spokesperson Captain Welile Matyolo could not immediately ascertain if Yako had opened a case.

Matyolo urged victims of extortion and protection fee demands to report them to police or approach the district commissioner for assistance.

“If these cases are not reported, it makes it difficult to investigate them officially.

“The complainant can even report the matter to the provincial office,” Matyolo said.

Mthatha businessman and Eastern Cape Chamber of Business secretarygeneral Dr Andile Nontso expressed shock.

“Mthatha will soon be a ghost town and unemployment will reach unprecedented levels if this town is not rescued.

“We get reports in our offices of business closures because crime has reached alarming proportions.”

Deputy defence minister and Mthatha resident Bantu Holomisa confirmed that extortion syndicates had caused some businesses to close.

“I spoke to police minister Senzo Mchunu recently, briefing him about the situation in Mthatha and Gqeberha. Last week, he and premier Oscar Mabuyane visited those hotspots.”

Extortion hotspots include Mthatha, Gqeberha, Willowvale, Cofimvaba and Buffalo City Metro.

“Crime intelligence in SA needs to be jacked up.

“We have construction mafias in the Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-natal and the Western Cape which must be attended to,” Holomisa said.

“As far as the military is concerned, we depend on the request of the police ministry and the president and parliament. At this stage, the police are still handling the matter.”

On Monday, the ANC said it “strongly condemns the rampant crime in our communities and escalating rate of extortion in the province”.

Provincial spokesperson Gift Ngqondi said: “We are appalled by the levels of crime and criminality, in particular the extortion syndicates that continue to terrorise working-class communities.

“The fact these syndicates terrorise businesses and even target schools ... demonstrates that they are emboldened, [believing] they act with impunity.”

He called on law enforcement agencies to “heighten their efforts to combat this criminal enterprise in our communities”.

“The police must arrest everyone in the value chain of this organised crime network, including the runners, the planners and the benefactors of these crimes,” Ngqondi said.

He called for the establishment of specialised courts and designated judges to deal with the cases and whistle-blower protection “to ensure people can come forward without fear”.