Extortion syndicates have increasingly been targeting mining companies in South Africa, deploying a mix of old and newer tactics. Neo Tsotetsi examines these dynamics.
Extortion has long been a feature in South Africa’s business environment, driven by a range of factors including high unemployment, inequality and ineffective policing. Deeply entrenched in the country’s hospitality, real estate and construction industries, extortion syndicates have increasingly turned their attention to mining – one of South Africa’s most productive industries – which has hampered the sector’s growth prospects.
Criminal groups are employing many tried-and-tested tactics in the mining sector, mirroring those used against hospitality and real estate companies. Protection rackets, where criminals demand payment in exchange for not attacking the business or its staff, have forced the closure of successful businesses as the demanded sum continues to rise. This troubling trend occurs against the backdrop of an under-resourced South African Police Force (SAPS), which also has a reputation for corruption as SAPS officers are sometimes found to be colluding with criminal syndicates in exchange for bribes. Amateur and professional criminal groups have started engaging in sabotage, derailing freight trains, obstructing trucks, and damaging water and electricity infrastructure as retribution for unpaid protection fees.
Beyond this, extortion syndicates have deployed newer tactics field tested in the construction sector. This includes, for instance, the use of so-called ‘business forums’ – networks of often small businesses that operate as lobby groups used to organise extortion attempts and provide a veneer of legality to any resulting gains, which typically take the form of contracts awarded to forum members regardless of their proficiency or even basic capability. In the case of mining, there have been demands that companies employ individuals affiliated with the forum or recognise specific unions. Militant unions have been responsible for several hostage crises in which they forced mineworkers into underground sit-in protests. Such groups frequently cite South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment Act, which requires that a portion of a company or its supply chain be owned by historically marginalised groups, to contextualise their demands. Extortion attempts, often launched under the veneer of a community protest, frequently escalate to violence or threats thereof, creating a difficult operating environment for companies.
1. 6 May: Six assailants blockaded roughly 22 mine trucks in Driekop, Limpopo Province, demanding an undisclosed sum in exchange for allowing the drivers to load the trucks. Police arrived during the incident and entered a shootout with the suspects, killing one and arresting five.
2. 8 January: Seven individuals posing as mine inspectors presented a falsified court order at a mine in Carolina, Mpumalanga Province, demanding payment for the resumption of activities. Police arrested the seven suspects.
3. November 2024: Police arrested 11 suspects believed to have attempted to extort a mine under the guide of a "business forum" in Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province. Forum members threatened to blockade and disrupt the site should their members not be allocated contracts with the mine.
4. November 2024: Rescue teams reported extortion attempts during the rescue of the over 100 illegal miners trapped underground in Stilfontein, North West Province. Extortionists reportedly demanded to be paid 30 percent of the value of contracted services, threatening to disrupt operations should their demands not be met.
5. October 2023: Over 500 mineworkers were held hostage underground for three days in Springs, Gauteng Province, by fellow workers demanding their union, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), be recognised at the company.
Mining executives are now faced both with rising extortion as well as kidnap-for-ransom and violent crimes countrywide, dampening the appetite to extend investment exposure.”
Rising extortion poses a serious threat to the strategic mining industry, especially amid persistently weak economic growth and a challenging regulatory environment in South Africa. Mining is essential to the country’s growth trajectory, employing nearly 500,000 people and representing almost six percent of GDP in the first three quarters of 2024. Nonetheless, the sector has seen a notable downturn, officially reaching a recession in early 2025 with mining executives reporting limited appetite to break ground on new projects. This gloomy state of affairs is worsened by operational challenges resulting from criminal syndicates sabotaging critical infrastructure, including water and electricity services, by targeting municipal systems to disrupt supply and pressure businesses into compliance. Mining executives are now faced both with rising extortion as well as kidnap-for-ransom and violent crimes countrywide, dampening the appetite to extend investment exposure.
Companies have responded with a mixture of concessions and collaborating with police to root out syndicates. These approaches have yielded mixed results and there is a major concern that cooperating with criminal elements will only embolden them over the long term. With ongoing concerns over SAPS’s effectiveness in addressing the threats to mining operators, and a widespread lack of public trust in police which may hamper reporting on extortion incidents, it will likely be a long road to creating the kind of environment that remains attractive to foreign investors.