King promises to help as extortion cripples Mthatha schools and businesses

The meeting was held in a tent on the premises of Laphumikwezi Senior Primary School, which is closed after an extortion attempt. Photo: Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

By Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik for GroundUp

21 Aug 2024

Community of Mthatha West claims a syndicate is operating with impunity.

At least one school and several businesses have closed in Mthatha following extortion attempts by a syndicate.

Laphumikwezi Senior Primary School in Mandela Location, Mthatha West, was closed last week after a group of people barged into it, manhandling the deputy principal and demanding that money be deposited into their bank account.

Teachers had to let children go home, and the school was closed.

The meeting was held in a tent on the premises of Laphumikwezi Senior Primary School, which is closed after an extortion attempt. (Photo: Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik)

Eastern Cape Department of Education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said four schools had been hit in Mthatha West by armed extortionists demanding money.

He said there were allegations that a young chief was involved in the syndicate. The department had turned to the abaThembu king, Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, to intervene in the matter.

“As the department we decided not to keep quiet about this as we saw that it was escalating very fast. Just in this one area, four schools have been affected, and Laphumikwezi ended up closing. We approached the king to intervene because this is happening on his land, with the hope that he will be able to stop this and our teachers and learners will be able to go back to school and be safe,” said Mtima.

On Tuesday, Dalindyebo called a general meeting at Laphumikwezi Senior Primary to address the issue of extortion in Mthatha West schools. The meeting was held in a tent inside the school premises, with a strong police presence.

‘Chief’ elected himself

Dalindyebo told the meeting he was aware that a person claiming to be a chief was involved in extortions. But he distanced the abaThembu Kingdom from him, saying the “chief” had elected himself.

He told residents that extortion was illegal but difficult to fight, suggesting that there were politicians who were benefiting from it.

“This thing is too deep, and our officials are not doing much to stop it because they are also involved,” said Dalindyebo.

He said he would make sure that the police patrolled the area.

Residents, mostly Laphumikwezi parents, cheered the king. Those we approached told GroundUp that they were scared to talk.

Before Dalindyebo arrived, journalists who were at the meeting were approached by people who said they were community leaders. One identified himself as the young chief who is accused of collecting the money from the schools. But he denied all the allegations.

He let two of the community leaders address the media.

One, Mzwandile Velembo, said a group had visited Laphumikwezi to demand answers from the deputy principal about a tower that was installed by Vodacom a few years ago.

He said that as community leaders they believe that they had a right to know what was happening at the school. But they were not violent, he said.

No one was manhandled, no one was beaten

“We went to the school because the deputy principal has been refusing to attend our meetings after we had called him several times. We then decided to come to the school to find these answers. No one was manhandled, no one was beaten. We want to know who authorised this tower, how much is the rent? That money must come to the community. We have young children here who are playing sports. So that money can be used to buy them soccer boots. There are organisations. The money can be used to support them,” said Velembo.

He denied that they left a bank account number for the school to transfer money to.

Another community leader, Noncedo Nqweniso, said the tower was on the chief’s land and money paid for it by Vodacom should belong to the community.

“The only thing we want is for the deputy principal and his school governing body to be transparent about the money made out of this tower.”

Residents say extortion is on the increase in Mthatha. They say the Sasol garage at the entrance to the town was closed last year after extortion. Several shops run by Somali immigrants in Mandela Location had been closed, also because of extortion, claim residents.

Some businesspeople in Mthatha have taken to social media to announce the closure of their businesses because of extortion.

GroundUp interviewed a businesswoman who runs a bed-and-breakfast establishment a few kilometres from the town centre. She said she paid R10,000 a month to different extortion syndicates.

Staff let go

She said she had been running the business since 2009. She used to have 12 employees. But things had become very tough, and last week she had decided to let most of her staff go.

“This all started late last year. Three decent guys came to book here. I was not around on that day. They slept here. The next morning I was told that there are businesspeople who want to see me and they are very happy about our services. Little did I know that it was extortion guys. In fear, I had to agree to be protected by them. It was after a businessman was shot here in Mthatha. Rumours were that he refused to pay them. The agreement was that I will pay them R5,000 a month, but another group came with their demands. The second group was hostile and they had information about me and my children,” said the woman.

She said some of the men had since been arrested for cash-in-transit robberies, but she was still paying them while they were in jail.

She said the only way out was to leave Mthatha.

“There’s no end to this,” she said.

“I do hope that I will bounce back but I don’t know how and when,” said the woman before she started crying.

OR Tambo District Police Commissioner Brigadier Mzuvukile Ntandane said police were doing everything in their power to fight extortion, and had made some arrests. He did not give details.

Allegations

He said he knew of allegations that police officers were also involved in the extortions, and said anyone involved would be dealt with.

“We really need people to come forward and report these matters. On Monday we were here at Laphumikwezi to ask the school to open a case so we can investigate these allegations. Unfortunately, as for now the school has not reported the matter to the police,” he said.

National Commissioner of the SAPS, General Fannie Masemola, said he had deployed extra capacity to the Eastern Cape to clamp down on extortionists and gangs. This followed a visit by Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu to Mthatha and Gqeberha last week.

In his statement, Masemola said 722 extortionists involved in violence and extortion at construction sites and businesses across the country had been arrested in the past five years. Fifty-two of them had been found guilty and collectively sentenced to 89 years and seven months’ imprisonment.

Ninety-three cases were still under investigation. DM

First published by GroundUp.

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