Cape Town - Somali shopkeepers were forced to close in Bishop Lavis as extortion groups demanded protection fees.
A shopowner told the Cape Argus that in one day, there were six groups charging them R800 each for a month.
“We were approached by these groups and they said they wanted money from us. We were not able to pay and they came to us on Sunday and told us to close our shops, and we did. We closed our businesses in the morning but by midday we opened. We are scared but we need the money and the community needs us too,” he said.
Community policing forum chairperson Graham Lindorst said the forum was aware of the forced closure.
“It’s the extortion, it’s the reality. People are told that they can’t trade or do anything unless they pay. They are threatened and told that if they don’t pay they will be killed.
“Unless SAPS gets a statement, there’s nothing they can do. People might feel comfortable talking to me but the moment you tell them to go and make a statement, because then SAPS can intervene, they refuse and say they are scared and say their families will be targeted.
“Even the Somali shopkeepers don’t go to the police. They speak to me as a community person and they speak on condition that they will not take it further to the police,” he said.
Lindorst called for the residents to unite against extortion.
“We must garner the support of the community and we must make a statement and protect those people.
“The community ends up suffering because they will have to walk longer distances to other shops which are open. And that is also a problem because they might get to territories which are red zones.
“I think we need to say in one voice that we will protect the people and will not allow this to happen. Eventually, people are going to be fed up because they are inconvenienced because of greed,” he said.
On June 5, a Somali shopkeeper was gunned down in a suspected extortion case.
Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg said the circumstances regarding the shooting in Simonsberg Street, Bishop Lavis, where a 32-year-old man was shot and fatally wounded, were under investigation.