Foreign-Owned Shops Targeted as Extortion Crisis Deepens in South Africa

A growing extortion crisis in South Africa is increasingly targeting foreign-owned convenience stores, with dozens of Ethiopian and Somali shopkeepers allegedly forced to pay criminals for “protection”.

The scale of the problem came into focus after a South African man and his two sons, including a serving police officer, appeared before a Cape Town magistrate accused of extorting about 50 spaza shops operated by Ethiopians and Somalis.

A Somali national was also brought before the court over allegations that he collected protection fees from shopkeepers around Stellenbosch, about 40 kilometres from Cape Town.

The cases have highlighted the wider spread of organised extortion across South Africa, where criminal groups are increasingly demanding payments from businesses ranging from small retail outlets to construction companies and nightclubs.

Fransina Lukas, head of the Western Cape community policing forum, said foreign nationals were often easier targets because they were more reluctant to report threats. She told AFP that gangs typically send letters demanding monthly payments and could escalate to robbery, harassment and violence when business owners refuse.

The danger has already been linked to deadly attacks. In July, four people, including at least two foreign nationals, were killed in a shooting at a spaza shop in Franschhoek, while a 31-year-old Somali shop owner was shot dead while serving customers in Cape Town’s Bonteheuwel area. Police linked both incidents to extortion rather than the xenophobic unrest that had recently affected foreign-owned businesses.

Community leader Mawande Jara said Somali-owned shops were particularly vulnerable in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha township, although South African business owners were also targeted. He said alleged extortionists sometimes demanded access to bank statements to determine how much a business could afford to pay.

Victims, however, often remain silent because of fears that reporting the gangs could expose them to further danger. Jara alleged that some police officers may provide information to criminal groups, making business owners reluctant to seek official help.

The extortion threat has also reached religious institutions. A Cape Town Islamic school and mosque was reportedly approached in June by men demanding an initial 3,000 rand “registration fee”, followed by monthly payments of 500 rand. The centre later reported the incident to police after making the initial payment.

Organised crime investigator Chad Thomas said some groups also use hired enforcers to settle disputes outside the courts, arguing that frustration with lengthy civil proceedings was contributing to the growth of the practice.

Police statistics cited by AFP showed that the Western Cape accounted for nearly half of 112 protection-racket extortion cases recorded nationally between April and June. The province also recorded 30 of the 76 murders at spaza shops during the period and 217 gang-related killings, the highest figure among South African provinces.

Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia acknowledged in June that extortion had grown rapidly, saying authorities were still struggling to find an effective response to a crime that had expanded dramatically in recent years.