Cape Town - It has emerged that the original contractor renovating the Bishop Lavis KFC building has now withdrawn due to refusal to pay the “extortionists” and that the “elements” which had stopped the work had taken over.
Last week the “extortionists” stopped renovations at the outlet at the corner of Lenton Drive and League Road and demanded from the contractor “an offer on the table” for work to continue.
In a meeting held on Tuesday morning by different stakeholders including the police, contractors, property owners and a security company, as well as those seeking an agreement for work to continue, the CPF reported that an agreement was made to give the contract to the “elements” that stopped the work from continuing.
CPF chairperson Graham Lindhorst said prior to this, police were called to KFC to deal with the situation but were unable to act against the “elements” as they did not have enough resources.
He said the contractors and workers could not return to work as those who stopped the work insisted that nobody would work until an agreement was reached. He said this happened in the presence of the police.
“The CPF has set up an urgent meeting with the Bishop Lavis SAPS acting station commander to get clarity on why SAPS failed to act against those elements that stopped the contractors. We left the meeting very despondent as SAPS failed the community by not acting against those that acted criminally,” he said.
Lindhorst said the CPF was considering a way forward as abandoning what transpired on Tuesday was not an option.
The police could not divulge more details on the matter due to the nature of the allegations. Police spokesperson Andre Traut, however, confirmed that the matter was under investigation by the provincial extortion task team.
KFC SA said it was aware of the situation at the outlet and had reported the matter to the authorities. An internal investigation was under way.