Foreign nationals targeted in South Africa's extortion explosion
Immigrant-run shops were also a focus of an explosion of xenophobic unrest earlier this year when scores were looted, torched or forced to shut during protests demanding that undocumented foreign nationals leave the country.
A protestor from the anti-illegal immigration group, March and March Movement chants slogans towards foreign nationals during a demonstration in Durban, on September 10, 2026. (AFP)
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CAPE TOWN — A South African and his two sons, one a police officer, appeared before a Cape Town magistrate last month, accused of extorting around 50 convenience stores run by Ethiopians and Somalis.
Also in the dock was a Somali alleged to have collected "protection fees" from the shopkeepers outside Stellenbosch, the winelands capital 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Cape Town.
The trial has highlighted the targeting of foreign-owned "spaza" shops in a growing extortion economy that preys on a range of businesses from construction to nightclubs.
Immigrant-run shops were also a focus of an explosion of xenophobic unrest earlier this year when scores were looted, torched or forced to shut during protests demanding that undocumented foreign nationals leave the country.
"The foreigners are the easier targets because they are scared, more scared than South Africans," said Fransina Lukas, head of the community policing forum for the Western Cape province that includes Cape Town.
Extortion gangs typically issue letters demanding monthly payments for "protection" services, Lukas told AFP.
"If the person refuses, they send the runners to rob the business; they harass the clients until it gets to the real brutal part where they go and actually kill people," she said.
In July, at least two foreign nationals were among four people killed in a shooting at a spaza shop in the scenic Western Cape town of Franschhoek.
Police linked both incidents to extortion and not the weeks of xenophobic violence, largely directed at people from other African countries, which South African police said was responsible for the deaths of at least four foreign nationals.
Heavies for hire
Somali-run spaza shops are a particular target of extortionists in Cape Town's sprawling Khayelitsha township, even if locals are not spared, said community leader Mawande Jara.
"The fee varies, maybe based on the income," he told AFP. "We were told that they ask for bank statements to assess how much they can get."
The crime is underreported because victims fear retaliation and suspect some police officers act as informants for criminal gangs.
"If you report them to the police, then in no time these guys are aware that you've lodged a case against them," Jara said. "So, therefore, you are vulnerable. You are putting your life at risk."
A Cape Town Islamic school and mosque was visited in June by men demanding a "registration fee" of 3,000 rand (around $180), to be followed by monthly R500 instalments, a representative told AFP.
The centre may have been targeted because the imam was a foreign national, he said. "I think it was one or two members of the community that were not happy with us being there."
After paying the initial fee, the centre lodged a case with the police.
In some cases, the use of "heavies for hire" is a tactic to settle disputes outside of the court system, said organised crime investigator Chad Thomas.
"This type of extortion is on the increase — business owners are becoming increasingly frustrated at the protracted civil court process," he said.
The Western Cape accounted for nearly half of 112 cases of protection racket extortion registered nationally in April-June this year and the highest number of murders at spaza shops at 30 out of 76, according to police statistics.
The province is also a gang-violence hotspot with 217 gang-related murders recorded over the same three months, by far the highest in the country.
"Extortion crime has increased exponentially in the last few years," acting police minister Firoz Cachalia told reporters in June.
"I don't think that we have all the answers yet to deal with extortion," he said. "It's gone on for a long time on a small scale... (now) It's really exploding."