Carte Blanche aired this ‘Extortion City’ episode July 21st 2024 and South Africa listened and stopped tolerating extortion’s ever-expanding reach since then. Politicians changed very relevant laws and police – quite literally – started shooting back, killing dozens of extortionists since.
On the surface, Randolf Jorberg – with his bright yellow t-shirt, sunglasses and newly dyed yellow beard – is an eccentric character. But on the streets of Cape Town, he’s a well-known business owner who used to run the popular Beerhouse pub. In recent years, though, Randolf has been forced to retreat from the spotlight as protection rackets targeting small businesses have flourished. Cape Town has become the extortion epicentre, with violent criminal syndicates operating across the city. In 2015, Randolf refused to pay protection money. Weeks later, his doorman was assassinated. He says it was a clear message: pay up or suffer the consequences. Alleged underworld kingpins are currently on trial in the Western Cape High Court, but that hasn’t stopped their henchmen from wreaking havoc. Carte Blanche examines the underbelly of the Western Cape’s deadly extortion rackets.
Posted by Randolf Jorberg on Friday, July 26, 2024
Carte Blanche’s original YouTube upload reached 100k views in less than 48 hours but was then filtered by YouTube’s recommendation algorithms and requires age verification since for showing scenes of Joe’s murder and gained less than 20+k views since. It is now shared embedded above and shared on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok with permission.
Due to the massive feedback on other channels and after Beerhouse’s closure went hyper-viral, Carte Blanche released an extended 48 minute-version of our interview on YouTube which quickly gained 200k views.
Producer legend Catherine Rice and moderator Govan Whittles filmed this with me, just 3 days before my departure from South Africa. I have been out of the country since, as there’s no doubt that I made powerful enemies with this publication…
