Extortion and 'construction mafia' hit 42 Cape Town building projects worth R1.48bn
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Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia told Parliament that 42 construction projects in the City of Cape Town were affected by extortion, intimidation and construction-mafia activity over the past five financial years, with no arrests or convictions recorded in the metro.
At least 42 construction projects faced extortion, intimidation and construction-mafia activity in Cape Town over the last five financial years, according to Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia, who was responding to parliamentary questions from ActionSA MP Dereleen James.
James asked for the total number of construction projects affected by extortion, intimidation and construction-mafia activity in the City of Cape Town over the past five financial years, the rand value of the affected projects, and the number of arrests and convictions arising from them. In his response, Cachalia said 12 construction projects in the metro were affected by extortion and a further 16 by intimidation during the period, while 14 construction or infrastructure projects were affected by construction-mafia activity. He put the total value of the affected projects at R1.483 billion, and said no arrests had been made and no arrests had resulted in convictions in Cape Town.
The figures contrast with those the minister provided in May this year for extortion syndicates operating at construction sites, schools, transport routes and municipal projects nationally over the last three years. He had then stated that 44 cases were investigated, with 36 cases linked to syndicates operating at construction sites, one at schools, six on transport routes and one involving municipal projects, and that 73 arrests were made, of which 56 stemmed from construction site-related cases.
Responding to a separate question from MK Party MP Mariam Be Be Muhammad on measurable progress by the South African Police Service in dismantling extortion, cash-in-transit heists and illegal mining syndicates, Cachalia said the police have two investigative capabilities with different mandates to deal with organised crime: the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) and the detective services. He said a National Priority Committee on Extortion and a National Extortion Hotline have been established, supplemented by provincial extortion hotlines in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape, and that extortion cases at construction sites are dealt with by Organised Crime Investigations within detective services, with dedicated prosecutors in each province.
On cash-in-transit heists, he said 72 suspects were arrested and 17 accused persons were convicted between the 2025/2026 financial year and the end of the first quarter of 2026/2027, while the DPCI dismantled 19 syndicates and arrested 209 suspects, with 182 accused persons convicted in relation to illegal mining over the same period. The dismantled syndicates included five juristic persons involved in precious metals, diamonds and illicit mining, and a preservation order was granted over immovable property valued at R1.25 million and a supermarket valued at R250,000.