00:00Armed guards keep watch over this construction site in Drift Sands, Cape Town.
00:06Work is at a standstill here, with security brought in after gang members showed up,
00:13threatening violence if they weren't given money and jobs.
00:17One of the first things that we noticed when we got here was how tense the situation is.
00:21Even the provincial officials were looking around, they were nervous,
00:25and there are a number of security people on site with weapons, large weapons,
00:31who are guarding the site for two things.
00:34Firstly, to ensure that no residents invade the site and build structures here illegally,
00:40but they're also on the lookout for extortion gangs who have previously come to the site
00:46demanding payment and demanding that certain people get hired as part of the project.
00:53Contractor Mpomoloi says it's part of an ongoing problem.
00:59We were stopped yesterday. We were here yesterday to hire,
01:03to actually hire the employees from the community, but we were stopped.
01:07It feels unsafe.
01:09At least half a dozen other sites across Cape Town have been threatened.
01:14These are government construction projects.
01:17Officials say, at this location alone, they'll have to pay 82,000 euros each month for security.
01:26This unplanned cost has put a dent in the project's budget.
01:30We have a site that has been left vacant, or the contractor walked off site,
01:37which is now more than 19 months.
01:39We have seen a school which was earmarked for upgrading again because of the criminal activities
01:44and the demand for safety money or security money from these racketeering groups.
01:50That's just two of the six examples in the city of Cape Town.
01:53In the last six years, there's been a massive spike in the number of reported cases of extortion.
01:59They have more than doubled.
02:02In response, South African police have created a dedicated extortion task force
02:07focused on making arrests.
02:10Police say they're dealing with organized crime groups.
02:15We also have projects that are running that are focusing on those that are the organizers of this
02:21and benefiting from it without being involved.
02:25People from the local communities often don't want to speak up.
02:28Making it difficult for police to get convictions.
02:33The challenge is that your organized crime groups quite often support the community.
02:41The leader in the area will provide resources to the grandmas in that area.
02:52So it's very difficult in that respect for the community to stand up
02:58because they're privileged from or they get resources, food, anything from the syndicates.
03:09Now with the security team in place, work is on track to resume at this site.
03:14But extortion continues to drive up costs and fear in South African communities, striving for progress.
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