A victim of land extortion by criminal syndicates in KwaZulu-Natal has revealed the terrifying experiences he and his family have faced at the hands of an extortion syndicate.
The beneficiary of a land trust, whose name is known to “The Mercury” but has requested to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, said that despite having obtained several court orders to prevent the land from being illegally sold and developed, a land Mafia syndicate had managed to sell about 80% of the property.
The man said they had also gone to various government departments and the police but no one had been able to help them.
He said that on one occasion he had organised a crew to demolish illegally built houses in the presence of police when the “Mafia” arrived and threatened the TLB (tractor-loader-backhoe) driver.
He said he then got a call from a daughter, who resides in a different area, who asked him to stop the demolition because his niece had been kidnapped by men who did not want the houses to be broken down.
“My family were afraid and I could not even tell my family member to go and open a criminal case because I would be selling her out, I would be selling my family out. I know how these people operate because they will kill witnesses. If you go to court, when you come back they will shoot you. They do anything they want,” he said.
He said the syndicate continues to help themselves to the land using fear, intimidation, kidnapping and murder to get what they want.
“These people are carrying big firearms but you won’t see the police going there to interview them to find out where they are getting the guns from and which security contractor they belong to,” he said.
People who buy these plots just pay and build without asking any questions and include attorneys, advocates and government officials among others, he said.
“I don’t know why this is only being taken so seriously now. These people have been terrorising and victimising communities. This is not a new issue, we have been victimised a number of times over the years with no one to turn to,” he said.
The Mercury