Research: 42 people kidnapped a day in SA

A SHOCKING study by the Institute for Security Studies has revealed that in the past 12 months, the number of kidnappings in the country had increased by over 250%.

The latest victim was Ashruf Kaka, a Gauteng businessman and attorney, who was kidnapped on July 5, outside a mosque in Helderkruin in Roodepoort.

The Jable Nur Trust confirmed that Kaka, the chairperson of Safraaz Group, had been taken from outside its business premises but declined to comment further.

National police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlende Mathe, said Kaka had been rescued from a house in Lenasia, last Wednesday (July 31).

Eight suspects were arrested, including three Tanzanian nationals who are suspected of being part of a transnational crime syndicate. Two suspects were arrested this month, while the other six suspects were arrested on the day that Kaka was found.

While searching for him, police also uncovered R300 million worth of drugs, believed to be crystal meth, that was seized from three different locations in Johannesburg.

“On July 31, intelligence led the multidisciplinary team to a hotel in the East Gate and two apartments in Fourways, where they arrested six suspects and seized drugs suspected to be crystal meth worth R300 million.”

Last month, businessman Kelvin Naidoo, 51, of the Eastern Cape, was abducted and found a few days later. Naidoo is Vice President of the Nelson Mandela Bay Chamber of Business.

In May, Shamshudeen Faki, 67, one of the directors of Dawood Frozen Foods, was kidnapped in Johannesburg. His body was found in Brakpan, Gauteng, days after he was taken from outside his business premises in Benoni.

According to Lizette Lancaster, Manager for the Crime and Justice Information Hub at the Institute for Security Studies, the rise in kidnappings over the past five years, is linked to the growth and entrenchment of syndicates and organised crime groups – locally and internationally.

From April 2022 to March this year, kidnappings increased by 256%, meaning that by March, an average of 42 persons were kidnapped a day.

This increased for the period October to December last year, which saw an average of 50 persons being kidnapped a day, according to Lancaster.

A total of 3 975 kidnapping cases had been recorded in this period.

“Kidnappings are adopted as a means to make an income. These groups see in the media that high-profile kidnappings are successful. Most kidnappings are so-called express kidnappings where persons are taken from the streets or during hijackings or robberies for the purpose of accessing their bank cards and/or mobile banking app over a number of hours or even a day or two.

“Many are opportunistic, where a potential target is simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, while others are often deliberately targeted because there is information or suspicion that the target has access to large amounts of cash,” Lancaster said.

While police remain under-resourced in their fight against crime, Lancaster said the crime syndicates involved in kidnapping research their victims well before executing the crime.

Crime statistics from the SAPS indicated that Gauteng is the most notorious province for kidnappings, with Johannesburg and Tshwane being hot spots.

Ransoms are the likely causative factor, followed by human trafficking and extortion, Lancaster said.

She said that victims were targeted, mainly because of their access to money.

“Depending on the sophistication of the group, this can range from a couple of thousand to millions of rand. The kidnappings for ransom are often wellplanned by highly-skilled perpetrators.

“These victims are often targeted because they seem to be affluent, run cash businesses or have come into money.

“Often, a gang has information about a specific group of persons and then targets them based on the inside information they have access to from persons that know the intended victim,” Lancaster said.

Anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee said criminals behind kidnappings in South Africa were either part of copy-cat gangs or “highly sophisticated networks” with international links.

Lancaster said the other hot spot provinces included Gauteng, Eastern Cape and parts of Limpopo.

He said kidnappings were not only affecting tourism in South Africa, but also creating fear among certain communities, especially business people.

“This is an ongoing problem. While the police have made some strides, we saw in the rescue of the Gauteng businessman Ashruf Kaka that drugs were also found. This shows that these gangs are linked to various crimes and are dangerous,”Abramjee said.

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