SHOP owners in Port Elizabeth’s northern areas are livid with gangs holding them ransom with demands of “protection fees”. In the past three weeks, at least four shop owners in Cleary Park, Sanctor and Korsten say they have been forced to cough up between R50 to R250 – sometimes every second day.
Gangs demand the money, claiming to protect the business from other criminals. If the shop owners refuse to pay the “protection fees”, gangs threaten to rob their businesses.
The shop owners, asking not to be named, said they had reported the racket to the police.
But police spokesman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said: “No official cases have been opened.
“The protection fees must be a new thing but nothing has been reported as far as I know.”
A 36-year-old Korsten shop owner said not much could be done by the police. “We don’t blame the police,” the shop owner said.
VIA - heraldlive.co.za
NORTHERN AREAS - GANGS NOW DEMANDING "PROTECTION FEES" FROM SHOP OWNERS
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Reviewed by Hash
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