National Police Minister, Senzo Mchunu addressed the National Assembly on Tuesday as he outlined the measures taken by the South African Police Service (SAPS) to deal with threats posed by extortion across the country.
Mchunu said four provinces across South Africa currently carry the majority of the crime rate.
The four provinces: Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal, Western Cape, and the Eastern Cape, currently carry 73% of crime levels in South Africa, the gravity of these crimes alone including extortion, is of serious concern to us over and above their concentration.
Extortion has been emerging over time and has now reached levels where all communities in our country beyond the four provinces have become very angry, bitter, and agitated, the pain has gone very deep. The mood expressed in communities is also reflective of statements that have been made in the house unanimously against these crimes in the short past, Mchunu said.
He has said somewhere in the background, the current socio-economic conditions are militating against reducing crime levels and need to be addressed urgently and police, led by the police ministry are hard at work fighting these crimes.
