The South African National Police Service (SAPS) National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, ordered the deployment of “extra capacity” to the Eastern Cape this week, to “clamp down on extortionists and gangs.” Multidisciplinary teams, consisting of the National Intervention Unit (NIU) and Crime Intelligence (CI), will bolster existing capacity in “dealing decisively” with criminals in the area.

Responding to the decision, saying it “will do well in improving visible policing,” Rise Mzansi’s Makashule Gana called for “a whole of society approach.” Gana has called for an expanded deployment, with more members of CI, “working with the Hawks and the newly empowered Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC).”

“The community of Mthatha and others across the country have been infiltrated by these gangs, which have seemingly outsmarted the police, therefore the necessary response is for intelligent and specialized policing, not just brute force, so as to untangle the captured community structures from these rings.”

The SAPS has further deployed three senior officers, the head of organised crime, specialised operations and intelligence from SAPS National Headquarters. These officers have been deployed to the province, each with dedicated teams under their command.

The National Commissioner stated the SAPS had been experiencing challenges, with community members being reluctant to report incidents of extortion. With this hindering their ability to carry out arrests, the Commissioner urged “communities to when called upon, come forward and report all forms of criminality to us and who these people are, to enable us to effect more arrests and ensure we build watertight cases that will be able to stand in court. For us to pin down these extortionists, we need witnesses.

“We urge the community’s cooperation in this regard. We have dedicated teams that are assigned to these cases. We are also looking at increasing capacity to register more cases and ensure takedowns”, said General Masemola.

Further noting the National Commissioner’s statement, Gana called for communities to work with authorities, “so that stability can be brought to these communities, allowing for normal social, cultural and economic activities to continue.”