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The interview starts at the 2:06 mark.

J.EREMIE MEGGS: Businesses and schools have been targeted in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, in a spate of extortion incidents. Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said two specialist units would now be deployed. Khuselwa Rangi speaks for the Eastern Cape government and joins us on the programme. Firstly, what is behind all this?

KHUSELWA RANJI: Jeremy, I think it is still a matter for further investigation whether we are dealing with just common criminals or whether we are dealing with a serious case of organised crime. You would understand that in the Eastern Cape there have been some incidents reported in relation to this already over the last two years, but at that time it was targeting businesses, mainly construction sites where it was presenting itself as what are called SMMEs, demanding 30% to be allocated to them when there is a construction project, particularly for construction projects that are managed by the government.

So at that time, instead of asking for that 30% and going through a competitive tender, they would go to the contractor and ask for the rands and cents that came with that 30%.

So that's what we were dealing with in that scenario, but since then it's trickled down, if you will, to the ordinary citizen, as we see or hear reports of schools being attacked, churches, ordinary people's homes being attacked, where these criminals are demanding protection money. It's a sad situation…

JEREMY MAGGS: This is indeed true.

KHUSELWA RANJI: …we are hopeful that with the deployment of additional forces by the South African Police Service (SAPS) last week, we will be able to bring the situation under control and reverse what we are currently seeing.

JEREMY MAGGS: In fact, two specialized police units will be deployed. What are the specific powers there? Are you aware of this?

KHUSELWA RANJI: These units are expected to be deployed to areas that have been identified as hot spots. This is a combination of your technical units, investigators who deal with common crimes as well as serious violent crimes.

There are intelligence operators, so it's a whole specialised force that will be led by senior officers from the South African Police Service, mainly from Pretoria.

You also understand that over time, with unresolved cases of this nature, the trust between the SAPS members and the communities in and around Mthatha is eroded. So the deployment of this force will also add that layer of trust so that communities can approach these officers and report some of the incidents that they are facing.

We hope that with the deployment of forces from outside the region, the community can be confident that the information they share with these detectives will not be used against them in any way.

Therefore, we hope that in the near future the situation will be brought under control and the people behind all these incidents will be brought to justice.

JEREMY MAGGS: Of course, the problem is that victims can safely report what happened without fear of retaliation.

KHUSELWA RANJI: I think that's why, and this has been a call from the provincial government, this has been a call from the communities, particularly around Mthatha, that we need to bring in people from other regions to break down that layer of familiarity.

We hope that they will be protected as this will be an investigation and an operation that will be carried out by the police officers who are sent there.

Therefore, Jeremy, we would like to urge and appeal to all residents of the Eastern Cape and the areas most affected to cooperate with the police and to trust them with information that may lead to the arrest of those behind these incidents.

JEREMY MAGGS: Last question: Apart from Mthatha, are there any other towns that the provincial government has red flagged?

KHUSELWA RANJI: The Gqeberha area, there's a lot going on there. Although, basically, we still see it as a phenomenon that affects businessmen.

You also realize that in the Buffalo area over the last couple of months there have been reports of attacks on doctors and some other ordinary businessmen in their workplaces, although perhaps not on a large scale.

We hope that this operation will focus on the Gqeberha area or the greater Nelson Mandela Bay area and the OR Tambo District Municipality. But we will not delay our work in other areas where we see that there may be an increase in this because we do not want a situation where these criminals move from the areas that are currently red flagged and move to other areas of the province.

So work is being done across the province to make sure that the situation improves and that citizens are safe because, unfortunately, it is impacting businesses and our economy.

This also impacts job creation, and our province needs growth in this area.

JEREMY MAGGS: Indeed. I'm going to leave it there, with my thanks. Khuselwa Rangi, speaking on behalf of the Eastern Cape Provincial Government.

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