South Africa’s new anti-terrorism laws face backlash; government proposes new grants to replace the R350 distress grant; Eskom and other state companies hit by protection rackets; and new investigation uncovers deep rot in eThekwini.
Concerns over the expansion of what is deemed to be terrorist activities, including publications of ‘unlawful terrorist content’, were raised on Wednesday when Parliament’s police committee heard public submissions on an anti-terrorism bill. The Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Amendment Bill was introduced in a bid for South Africa to avoid a global ‘greylisting’. However, the draft laws are not without their shortcomings.
In some areas, gangsters have attempted to launch protection rackets against the power utility – demanding as much as R20,000 a month in ‘protection fees’. These protection rackets go further than the power utility, with similar attempts being made against other state companies like Prasa.
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