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The lucrative extortion racket which operates along Long Street, and other parts of the CBD, has only worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

First, it was bars and restaurants, and the net then widened to include coffee shops and other businesses, as regular money-spinners like nightclubs saw revenue drop.

In Khayelitsha, gangs operating under names like the Guptas and Boko Harams continue to demand “protection fees” from informal traders, with crooks even broadcasting the going rates on social media for all to see.

Can they sink any lower? I mean, is the Pope Catholic?

Here’s CapeTalk:

Extortion syndicates operating in Cape Town… are now casting their net even wider and targeting off-duty medics.

eNCA reporter Monique Mortlock says EMS staffers are being forced to pay protection fees when they are off-duty in their local communities.

“I’ve heard paramedics operating in the Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Mfuleni area, but mainly those living in Khayelitsha saying that now they have also been approached by criminals…operating from these extortion syndicates.”

Mortlock, whose name you might remember from her encounter with an anti-masker at a protest in Sea Point, says one paramedic paid around R2 000 last month, just to ensure his family and property was protected.

These are the same paramedics that must fear being ambushed when responding to emergencies whilst on duty.

Mortlock spoke with Refilwe Moloto yesterday, shedding more light on how these extortion syndicates operate:

[source:capetalk]