Playing dumb about thugs

Protection fees and the construction mafia are not new in South Africa it's just that the authorities pretend they did not know about it.

- Eric Naki

They knew illegal migrants in the streets of Johannesburg and surroundings had been paying bribes for years to greedy members of the Saps. The thugs had learnt the trick from the police officials. They harass foreigners and ask for bribes if someone was found without the necessary documents to be in SA.

The victims are mostly unemployed young men who sit on the side of the streets in most suburbs and outside shopping centres, seeking piecework such as painting, bricklaying, gardening, plumbing and even some electric maintenance.

Unscrupulous police members often raid the spots and demand a protection fee, ranging from R20 to R200, with the most common fee being R50.

They are being "protected" from prosecution for being in the country illegally without documentation and to avoid being sent away to await deportation to their countries of origin.