By Odwa Bafana Mkentane
Spaza shops in Nyanga were forced to close for a week last week amid reported extortion threats against local traders. The closures have raised concerns about the safety of small business owners and the impact on residents who rely on these shops for their daily essentials.
Most of the foreign spaza shops were closed for a week in Nyanga and other nearby areas due to extortion.
Speaking to VOC News, CPF Sub-District Chairman Martin Makasi says there is a dedicated team that was set up by the provincial Western Cape subs that is working on extortion-related cases.
“I think we need to do more in terms of raising awareness of the shop owners and community members in terms of how to react when they are confronted with this kind of a challenge. Community members are also now sharing information with the law enforcement agencies and some of the shopkeepers as well. Of late they are not scared now to go to the police station to open cases, but the majority of shop owners and community members are scared because of the problem with extortionate extortion groups, you don’t really know who these individuals are,” said Makasi.
