Couple shot dead over ‘protection fee’ for street stall selling tripe at R20 a plate - TimesLIVE

Phumlani Vokovi was passionate about promoting the arts in Khayelitsha, Cape Town.

An actor, artist manager and small-business owner, he had big dreams of transforming his area.

Those dreams died when he was shot dead last week. His friends suspect he was killed by a group of extortionists following a stand-off over the monthly “protection fee” he paid them for his humble hawker stall, where he sold tripe for R20 a plate.

Vokovi was gunned down as he was closing up for the day. His killers allegedly then went to his home, where they shot dead his wife, Nichume Vokovi.

“People are talking, but there is no-one who wants to come out in the open. The people behind protection fees are brutal,” said a friend of Vokovi who did not want his name published out of fear of the extortion gangs.

(Nolo Moima) “People are hustling to chase the wolf away from their doors and not to get rich, and yet you have these people who come and demand the little that they make.”

A week after the murders, friends remain afraid to speak publicly about what happened.

“Apparently he refused to pay the required protection fee,” said one. “I mean, how much can you get from someone selling tripe for just R20? He did not even have a funeral policy. Some of his friends in the entertainment industry are now trying to raise funds for his funeral.”

Vokovi’s family would not confirm or deny claims that the murders were linked to extortion, saying they wanted to wait for the outcome of the police investigation.

“It’s too soon to speak about their deaths. People are talking, but for the sake of our safety we will wait for the police report,” a family member said, also asking not to be named.

About 40km away, a 34-year-old Steenberg woman said protection fees had become so routine in her neighbourhood that tenants in her yard had worked out a system to ensure the money was ready when collectors arrived.

“We stay in a yard with about four shacks,” she said. “One night at 3am, we were woken by a noise. They were kicking open our doors, demanding a protection fee. They did not harm anyone or steal our belongings. All they wanted was the money. We then decided that the money, which is about R1,500, should be given to one person at month-end for easy collection.”

A salon owner in Dunoon said businesses in his area were expected to pay about R300 a month.

Western Cape police commissioner Lt-Gen Sizakhele Dyantyi said last week that 109 extortion cases were reported across the province between April and June 2026.

Protection rackets accounted for 52 of the 109 cases and included demands for protection fees, taxi-related extortion and incidents linked to the so-called construction mafia, in which operations are disrupted, workers intimidated and contracts, jobs or money demanded.

Another 38 cases involved financial extortion, including threats to harm victims or their families, ransom demands, threats to damage property, assassination-related threats, and the misuse of power.

Spaza and tuck shops were the most frequently targeted premises, accounting for 13 cases, followed by residential rental properties with 10 and supermarkets with six. Other targets included salons and barber shops, street vendors, transport and delivery businesses, individuals and religious institutions.

But extortion is not confined to township businesses.

Over the past five financial years, 42 construction or infrastructure projects in Cape Town, with a combined value of almost R1.5bn, have been affected by extortion, intimidation or so-called construction-mafia activity.

Last month, four suspects, including three members of a family from Nyanga, one of them a police constable, as well as a businessman, were arrested in a multi-agency operation after allegedly being linked to an extortion ring.

Western Cape police oversight & community safety MEC Anroux Marais said that “when gangs and syndicates impose ‘protection fees’ on residents, business owners and contractors, they are not just stealing money; they are stealing opportunities, which hampers our collective job-creation efforts”.

At national level, a national priority committee on extortion has been established under the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (Natjoints) to co-ordinate response to the crime.

Acting police minister Firoz Cachalia said in a parliamentary reply that the committee brought together SAPS units and other agencies, including the National Prosecuting Authority, Business Against Crime South Africa, the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority, the department of public works & infrastructure and the State Security Agency.

A national extortion hotline has also been established, alongside provincial hotlines in the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape, to allow people to report extortion anonymously.

In the Vokovi case, Western Cape police spokesperson Capt FC van Wyk said two counts of murder were being investigated.