“This Is Sad”: Mamelodi Tuckshop Owner Allegedly Closes After Extortionists Demand a Cut

• Israel Moagi opened his Mamelodi tuckshop after a foreign national vacated it, registering it legally with the City of Tshwane
• Men in a car stopped at his shop and demanded he pay a 10% monthly protection fee, claiming the previous owner had complied
• Moagi refused to pay and shut down his business, sparking outrage among South Africans about growing extortion networks

A Mamelodi tuckshop owner shut his business rather than bow to extortionists who demanded a cut of his income. Israel Moagi shared the ordeal in a TikTok video on 10 September 2026, describing what happened after he took over a spaza shop in Mamelodi, Pretoria, that had been vacated by a foreign national.

Moagi said he was thrilled to get the opportunity. He registered the business with the City of Tshwane, received all the required documents, and started trading legally. His excitement was short-lived.

Extortionists make their move

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Within weeks, a car pulled up outside his shop, and strangers told him he would need to hand over 10% of his monthly earnings to keep operating. They allegedly claimed that the foreign shopkeeper who ran the business before him had paid without question, and that Moagi was expected to do the same.

“They told me that the foreign guy who was here before used to comply with the demands, and I must do the same,” he said in the video.

“I am not going to work for other people. These guys make our lives miserable.”

Rather than comply, Moagi locked up and walked away from the business he had just built.

Watch as Israel Moagi shares his extortion ordeal on TikTok:

Mzansi responds to the Mamelodi tuckshop closure

South Africans flooded the comments section with anger and concern:

@violet wrote:

“Where is our government now?”

@Kgomotso said:

“Mamelodi has no peace; people are scared to run businesses.”

@ORA commented:

“This protection fee thing is scarily growing across the country.”

@KODOKO suggested:

“Move your business to another location and avoid many things.”

@imhot3p Mmakolobe Komape wrote:

“This country does not have a president.”

@SpyFoxx noted:

“Notice how Lesufi never talks about protection fee mafias?”

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3 more articles involving spaza shop owners

• A man filmed himself walking through Cape Town at night, entering several spaza shops to question operators about why no South Africans were employed there.
• Ward Councillor Angus McKenzie confirmed the fatal shooting of spaza shop owner Umar on Assegaai Avenue in Bonteheuwel.
• Four Pakistani nationals who owned spaza shops in Tembisa were killed in a shooting in Kempton Park on Saturday evening.

Source: Briefly News