Police Oversight and Community Safety
- (a) What is the number of reported extortion-related crimes for each SAPS precinct in the Western Cape during the 2024/25 financial year and (b) what targeted interventions have been implemented in these high-incidence areas;
- (a) how many arrests have been made in connection with extortion cases in the province since 1 April 2024 and (b) how many convictions have been secured;
- (a) what extortion-related crimes have been recorded and (b) what is the total estimated value of the economic loss linked to these crimes;
- (a) how many extortion cases in the province have been linked to organised criminal gangs and (b) what proportion of these are under investigation by specialised organised crime units;
- (a) how many dedicated SAPS task teams are currently operating in the province to combat extortion, (b) what are their areas of deployment and (c) what budget has been allocated to these teams in the 2024/25 financial year;
- (a) how many extortion-related cases remain under investigation in the Western Cape and (b) what measures are in place to reduce investigative backlogs?
(1) (a) Extortion crimes per SAPS precinct (excluding stations where no extortion occurred). See attached annexure A
(b) The station’s Crime Intelligence (CI) and the local Crime Information Management and Analysis Centre (CIMAC) work in close collaboration to identity individuals and groups involved in extortion activities in their respective policing precincts. Operational deployment and related activities are informed by the threats and intelligence emerging from this joint analysis. Regular intelligence-driven operations and daily patrols are conducted in identified extortion hotspot areas. In addition, local spaza shops are frequently visited to enhance police visibility.
(2) (a) Arrest - 331
(b) Convictions - 1
(3) (a) Murder, Attempted Murder, Business Robbery, Kidnapping, Intimidation.
(b) R10 751 040.00
(4) (a) At present, no verified information or conclusive evidence is available linking extortion cases in the province to organised criminal gangs. Investigating and intelligence structures continue to assess available case information; however no formal linkage meeting evidentiary requirements has been established to date.
(b) Although the linkage to criminal gangs is ongoing certain extortion grouping are investigated by dedicated provincial detectives.
(5) (a) The SAPS employs an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach involving Visible Policing, Crime Intelligence, and Detective Services. These components work jointly through coordinated operations, information sharing, and targeted investigations to address extortion-related threats across the province.
(b) The multi-disciplinary approach covers the Western Cape Province.
(c) The funding utilised for extortion-related operations is drown from the existing operational budgets of both Visible Policing and Detective Services. No separate or ring-fenced budget allocation exists for this purpose.
(6) (a) 571
(b) Experienced and dedicated Investigating officers have been assigned to address extortion related cases within the Provincial Detectives.
