Western Cape Police commissioner Thembisile Patekile and his top management visited Marikana on 17 January after eight people were fatally shot at a shebeen in the Cape Flats township. (Photo: SAPS) 
Shortly after midnight on Saturday, 17 January, eight people were fatally shot in a shebeen in the Marikana informal settlement in Philippi East on the Cape Flats.
Police said the extortion-linked attack happened at about 12.15am when gunmen stormed a shebeen and opened fire on patrons.
A terrified resident told Daily Maverick on Monday: “This is what happens when shebeen owners refuse to pay extortion money — they end up dead.”
On Monday, two suspects were arrested for the murders. Police said they were believed to be part of a local extortion group and known to residents, who are afraid to speak out.
Read more: Cape Town police hunt three known suspects in wake of shebeen mass shooting
/file/attachments/orphans/Marikanascene2_111264.jpeg "Western Cape police commissioner Thembisile Patekile at the tavern in Marikana, Philippi, where eight people were killed in a mass shooting in the early hours of Saturday, 17 January. (Photo: SAPS)")
This is not the first mass killing the Marikana informal settlement has endured. On 29 September 2017, 11 people were killed in a series of violent incidents. Three days earlier, seven people were murdered.
Speaking out comes at a cost.
A prominent businessman who has served on various forums in Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Nyanga and Philippi told Daily Maverick: “Please don’t use my name. I want to remain anonymous. I’m well known in township communities, and merely mentioning my name or speaking out against extortion could cost me my life.
“Extortion is so bad in the areas; just painting a line on the streets comes at a cost. Nursing homes, spaza shops, taxi ranks, municipal workers and ordinary persons trying to make money to put food on the table have no option but to pay or close down.”
When he spoke about the impact of extortion on the poorest of the poor, his voice faltered. What hurt most, he said, was walking past places that were once full of life.
“I remember a simple car-wash spot where gogos sold raw meat, vetkoek and vegetables, doing whatever they could to put food on the table. Today, those familiar faces are gone. The stalls have vanished. All that remains are dusty, abandoned patches of ground — silent reminders of livelihoods destroyed when traders refused to pay extortion money and were forced to shut down.”
No one is immune, with fear stalking township alleys and shacks, while small business owners are forced to pay R500 to R1,000 a month.
Read more: Extortionists close down informal businesses in Cape Town
The allure of the township economy
Extortion is rife in SA townships because of the vast economic value of their economies and the determination of criminal syndicates to claim a large share of it.
This is underscored in Standard Bank’s October 2025 inaugural Informal Economy Report, which revealed that townships are productive, creative and self-financed with a R1-trillion economy — providing nearly 19.5% of South Africa’s total employment — which the private sector has historically ignored.
It also found that “80% of township businesses are unregistered”.
Read more: The township entrepreneurs who built a R1-trillion economy deserve accountable parity — now
Hubert Paulse, the chairperson of the Cape Chamber of Commerce & Industry Safety and Security Portfolio, said extortion had become one of the most destructive forces in township economies across Cape Town and South Africa.
“When extortionists demand ‘protection fees’, often from multiple groups simultaneously, these businesses are left with no viable options other than closure or exposure to violent retaliation,” he said.
Extortion, he added, was a direct threat to service delivery, economic participation and the state’s ability to govern. Addressing it decisively is essential to restoring safety, dignity and economic opportunity in affected communities.
State fails to break extortion syndicates
Activists in Khayelitsha, Philippi, Gugulethu and Nyanga say extortion syndicates operate with near-total impunity, laying bare the failure of law enforcement and intelligence structures.
A Nyanga activist, who asked not to be named, said his greatest disappointment was the state’s inability to act against extortion carried out by people who are widely known.
“The kingpins are known,” he said, “but residents are too petrified to come forward and identify them.”
He said Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers — tasked with cleaning and maintaining public spaces — were increasingly targeted by extortion-linked violence.
“If businessmen who got EPWP contracts refused to make a payment that is demanded by extortionists, there will be a drive-by shooting on the workers. This results in refuse piling up on streets. The person killed or maimed could be my or your relative,” he said.
/file/attachments/orphans/Marikanascene_758751.jpeg "The shebeen in Marikana, Philippi East, where eight people were fatally shot in the early hours of 17 January. (Photo: SAPS)")
More alarming are accounts from township nurses who travel daily to Somerset West, saying their lives are constantly at risk — especially during dark winter mornings when they are confronted with demands for protection money in exchange for safe passage.
Mavis — not her real name — who lives in Khayelitsha and works in Somerset West, described the impossible choices she faces each month.
“With my salary, I have to budget for taxi fare, protection fees and my two children,” she said. “If I don’t pay protection or extortion money, I won’t be able to go to work and earn a living. It is a miracle that nothing serious has happened to me,” she said.
SAPS faces mounting pressure
Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said protecting communities from extortion was a priority of the SAPS in the Western Cape.
He said the police had stepped up their response, with a multidisciplinary Extortion Task Team and specialised units making inroads into dismantling extortion networks.
“Numerous suspects have been arrested for extortion, intimidation, conspiracy to commit extortion and related violent crimes. While specific figures cannot be disclosed at this stage due to ongoing investigations and court processes, arrests have been effected across the metro, including the CBD, transport hubs, construction sector hotspots and township business areas,” he said.
A parliamentary reply cited by the Democratic Alliance (DA) revealed that 331 people were arrested for extortion-related offences in the province between 1 April 2024 and mid-December 2025, yet only one conviction had been secured.
During the same period, 571 extortion cases were under investigation. The reply further revealed that the estimated total economic loss linked to extortion-related crimes was R10.7-million, dealing a devastating blow to local economies.
The SAPS crime statistics for the second quarter of 2025, covering the period from July to September 2025, analysed the motives behind 111 cases of extortion in the province: 50 were related to protection fees, 13 to threats of harm, 11 to murders and 11 to blackmail.
During an October visit to gang-hit Cape Town areas, acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia announced an intelligence-driven, multi-agency plan to tackle gangsterism and extortion in the Western Cape.
Read more: Cachalia outlines strategy to combat Western Cape gangsterism and extortion
Alleged collusions with syndicates
Another grave concern is the erosion of public trust in law enforcement, amid allegations of collusion with extortion syndicates, a concern amplified by the December 2025 arrest of two city law enforcement officers on corruption-related charges.
/file/attachments/orphans/LawEnforcementOfficersarrested_744439.jpeg "Two City of Cape Town law enforcement officers were arrested in December 2025 on charges of corruption, extortion and business robbery. (Photo: Hawks)")
Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Zinzi Hani said, “It is believed that the officers were targeting foreign nationals’ spaza shops, requesting their asylum documentation. With or without the documents, the officers will still demand money. On different occasions the victims paid an amount of R5,000 and R6,000.
“Further, the investigation revealed that during an arrest of one of the victims, the suspects managed to steal cigarettes out of the victim’s vehicle to the value of over R600,000 while the victim was being processed at Philippi East police station.”
Hani said the two officers had previously been arrested in May 2025 on similar charges and were later released on bail, raising serious questions about accountability and the effectiveness of internal controls within law enforcement agencies.
Extortion cripples service delivery and safety
Cape Town’s MMC for water and sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, said extortion and intimidation often delayed service delivery, especially in poorer communities, as teams must wait for police escorts.
“This includes extortion attempts in communities where criminals demand that money is paid before any work is undertaken by our city teams. This means more often work is delayed and services cannot be delivered to communities who need them, which is unacceptable. But we will continue to undertake any measures necessary to ensure teams remain safe and work gets done,” he said.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Velani-Zahid-5-.jpg "Cape Town’s MMC for water and sanitation, Zahid Badroodien. (Photo: Ziyanda Duba)")
The city’s MMC for safety and security, JP Smith, said, “This failure within the criminal justice system to effectively remove extortion syndicates from society is a key driver of the crisis currently being experienced in our townships. These criminals continue to operate with impunity, threatening contractors, disrupting service delivery, and terrorising communities.
“I have repeatedly called on the South African Police Service and the National Prosecuting Authority to take this threat far more seriously.” DM
Crimes can be reported anonymously to the Extortion Hotline on 0800 31 44 44 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111.