City of Cape Town offers R250k reward for info that helps in fight against extortion
The City of Cape Town is bolstering its efforts to fight extortion by issuing a massive reward for information.
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CAPE TOWN - The City of Cape Town says it will not allow extortionists to hold the metro at ransom.
At the weekend, the city issued a record-breaking reward of R250,000 for anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of those behind extorting money from its staff members.
The city has been battling with the issue of extortion over the past two years, which led to the death of one of its staff members at a construction site in Delft last year.
The municipality is grappling with intimidation by the construction mafia, which threatens to take over its service delivery projects, particularly in townships.
Safety and Security MMC JP Smith said that a special unit had been established to fight extortion.
"So originally, when we created this unit, it was in response to the communities pleading with us to help them protect our facilities. Our electricity depots, water depots, roads depots, clinics and libraries have constantly come under attack and we want to protect these facilities so that we can spend money on improving them."
Smith added that the reward was attractive enough to help encourage residents to come forward with information on people behind these criminal activities.