Community Safety
(1) Whether there are any government projects that have been stopped or delayed due to demands for extortion money in the province in the period 2014 to 2020; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether there are any government departments or municipalities that have been forced to pay gangs protection fees or extortion money in order to continue with their projects in the province in the period 2014 to 2020; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether there are government or municipal officials who have been robbed while implementing projects in the province in the period 2014 to 2020; if so, what are the relevant details;
(4) what are the details of the measures that his Department has put in place to prevent delays in government projects due to demands for extortion money in the province, particularly on the Cape Flats?
(1) None of the Department of Community Safety’s projects have been stopped or delayed due to demands for extortion money. The Department cannot answer the question on behalf of other Western Cape Government Departments. It is advised that transversal questions of this nature be posed to the Department of the Premier for a response.
(2) The Department is not in possession of such information and cannot answer on behalf of other Western Cape Government Departments or municipalities. It is advised that transversal questions of this nature be posed to the Department of the Premier for a response.
(3) The WCG is not in a position to determine staff safety information pertaining to municipalities. Robbery as a crime will be reported to SAPS and is not grouped or classified in relation to the employment of the victim or survivor.
Staff safety information of WCG employees have only recently been centrally coordinated (since February 2020). Statistics in respect of Employee Safety for the WCG departments are now being collated on a monthly basis by DOCS. Work is still being done to ensure the integrity and completeness of the information collated. The table represents the categories of information collected from Departments as reported by the respective security managers.
SUMMARY OF EMPLOYEE SAFETY INCIDENTS FROM FEBRUARY – OCTOBER 2020
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No. | Category of Incidents
| WCED | DOH | DOCS | DTPW | DSD | DCAS | DOTP | DPT | DEDAT | DEADP | DHS | DLG | DA |
1 | Damage to facility property/ Vandalism | 203 | 72 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
2 | Fatalities on duty | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
3 | Fatalities off duty | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
4 | Physical Assault | 64 | 73 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
5 | Damage to personal property | 11 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
6 | Gang Violence in the area | 88 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
7 | Possession of an illegal substance | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
8 | Threatening behaviour | 0 | 110 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
9 | Use/ Possession of weapons | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
10 | Verbal abuse | 49 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
11 | Theft/ Burglary | 152 | 60 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Totals per Dept.
| 567 | 378 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 2 | |
(4) Extortion is a crime which must be reported to and addressed by the SAPS. The department is engaging with the SAPS National Minister and provincial SAPS management on their strategies to counter acts of extortion.
