A growing extortion economy in South Africa is placing foreign-owned businesses, particularly immigrant-run spaza shops, in the crosshairs of criminal gangs that demand regular payments for so-called protection.
The development has added another layer to the risks faced by foreign nationals in the country, where Nigerian officials have repeatedly raised concerns over anti-immigrant violence.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, said 98 Nigerians had died in mob and hate-related incidents in South Africa since 2022. He added that 1,695 Nigerians had so far been voluntarily evacuated from the country.
However, the recent concerns go beyond xenophobic attacks. Criminal groups are continually exploiting the vulnerability of foreign business owners, demanding money and threatening violence when their demands are rejected.
The scale of the problem emerged during a recent court case in Cape Town, where a South African man and his two sons, including a serving police officer, were accused of extorting about 50 convenience stores operated by Ethiopians and Somalis.
A Somali national was also brought before the court over allegations that he collected protection fees from shopkeepers outside Stellenbosch, about 40 kilometres from Cape Town.
The cases have drawn attention to an extortion network that stretches beyond small retail outlets. Construction companies, nightclubs and other businesses have also become targets as criminal groups turn intimidation into a source of regular income.
Fransina Lukas, head of the community policing forum in the Western Cape, said foreign nationals were particularly vulnerable because they often feared the consequences of reporting criminal groups.
“The foreigners are the easier targets because they are scared, more scared than South Africans,” Lukas told AFP.
She explained that gangs often begin by sending letters demanding monthly payments for protection. Refusal, she said, can trigger harassment, robbery and, in severe cases, deadly attacks.
The danger has already surfaced in several incidents.
In July, four people, including at least two foreign nationals, were killed in a shooting at a spaza shop in Franschhoek in the Western Cape. That same month, a 31-year-old Somali shopkeeper was shot dead while serving customers in Cape Town’s Bonteheuwel area.
Police attributed both incidents to extortion rather than the xenophobic unrest that swept parts of the country earlier in the year.
A crime economy built on fear
Community leader Mawande Jara said Somali-operated shops were especially vulnerable in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha township, although South African business owners were also affected.
According to Jara, extortionists can assess a business before setting their demands, while some victims are allegedly being asked to provide bank statements so criminals can determine how much money they can extract.
Fear of retaliation has also discouraged victims from reporting the crime.
Jara said some business owners suspected that information supplied to the police could find its way back to criminal gangs, leaving complainants exposed.
The reach of the racket has extended beyond commercial premises. In June, men visited an Islamic school and mosque in Cape Town and demanded an initial “registration fee” of 3,000 rand, followed by monthly payments of 500 rand.
The centre eventually reported the matter to the police after making the initial payment.
Organised crime investigator Chad Thomas said some businesses were increasingly turning to private enforcers to settle disputes because of frustration with lengthy civil court proceedings.
“This type of extortion is on the increase,” Thomas said.
Official figures underline the severity of the problem. Police recorded 112 protection-racket extortion cases nationally between April and June, with the Western Cape accounting for nearly half of them.
The province also recorded 30 of the 76 murders at spaza shops during the same period. It registered 217 gang-related murders in the three months, the highest figure among South Africa’s provinces.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia acknowledged the escalating threat in June; he said extortion had increased “exponentially” over the past few years.
“I don’t think that we have all the answers yet to deal with extortion,” Cachalia said.
He added that a crime that once operated on a smaller scale was now “really exploding”.
For foreign nationals, the development creates a dangerous overlap between organised crime and anti-immigrant hostility. A shopkeeper can face pressure not simply because of the business being profitable, but because his foreign status may make him less willing to seek protection from the authorities.
That vulnerability has turned some immigrant-run shops into attractive targets in an increasingly sophisticated protection racket.
As for Nigeria, the situation carries particular significance. The reported deaths of 98 Nigerians since 2022 and the evacuation of 1,695 others show that concerns over the safety of Nigerians in South Africa extend beyond isolated incidents.
The growing extortion trade has now added another dimension to that challenge, and has equally raised fresh questions about the protection available to foreign traders operating in communities where criminal gangs have acquired significant influence.
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