Cape Town - Hot on the heels of the release of the October to December 2022 crime statistics, which showed South Africa recorded 128 kidnapping-for-ransom cases, a Bellville lawyer kidnapped on Friday was found traumatised some 280km away in Klawer, following a police manhunt.
Police said the lawyer’s wife reported him missing as he never returned home after work on Friday.
Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said: “Bellville detectives were operationalised as a result of the strange circumstances surrounding this incident. After consultation with the missing person’s business partner and secretary, they visited the offices and found that the office was in many ways disturbed and certain items were also missing.
“They found a file on the desk which would be of vital importance in their investigation, as it gave direct links to pursue. The investigating team immediately launched a manhunt in a bid to locate the missing person.”
Police proceeded to the address of a woman in Yale Road, Belhar, who had visited the practice the previous day.
While the woman’s husband could not give an account of the whereabouts of his wife, witnesses in the vicinity who were questioned placed the woman on the crime scene when they confirmed that she was driving a white motor vehicle, believed to be the victim’s car, with an unknown man and two occupants.
Following the leads in the file found on the desk in the office, the officers set their sights on another address mentioned in Klawer.
“The relevant information was circulated with SAPS officers in the West Coast region.
“Klawer police spotted the vehicle at an address in their policing precinct and entered the house, where they rescued the missing person who was traumatised.
“They then arrested and detained a male and two females on a charge of kidnapping,” said Swartbooi.
Once charged, the suspects are expected to appear in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on a charge of kidnapping.
Bellville CPF PRO Gerda Gerber said they were shocked that something like this had happened right on their doorstep.
“This type of crime is happening everywhere, but still the community of Bellville was shocked that it happened on their doorstep. For a while there has been an increase in these type of cases, but in other areas.
“I applaud the good work and quick arrest of the culprits by our Bellville SAPS members.”
She cautioned the community “to take that extra few seconds and just send a message or make a call, telling someone you’re leaving for or from work or school”.
Crime activist Hanif Loonat said that, while he did not know the exact circumstances surrounding the incident, it did not share the same modus operandi as typical kidnapping-for-ransom cases.
“The circumstances show he was targeted for some reason, though it’s difficult to reach a conclusion. Lawyers must be careful, especially if clients are gangsters.”
He said that so far this year there had been a reduction in kidnapping cases.
“Since we’ve been catching them and arresting them, now they’ve slowed down, because we are starting to pick up their shortcomings. Now that we know how they work, we are catching up with them.
“There have been small incidents of some Bangladeshi nationals, but in general even in Joburg for this year it (kidnapping) has decreased. In our next quarter’s statistics we’ll probably see it,” said Loonat.
Briefing the portfolio committee on police on the third-quarter crime statistics on Friday, Police Minister Bheki Cele said in terms of kidnapping they had focused on instances where kidnapping was the means to achieve the crime.
In terms of kidnapping for ransom, the country recorded 128 incidents, up by 42, compared with October 2021 to December 2021.
The Western Cape in particular saw a 7% increase in these cases.
Cele said there had also been 12 incidents of kidnapping for human trafficking nationally, and 23 cases of extortion.
Murder, meanwhile, saw an increase of 10%, and rape an increase of 9.8%. The period from October to December last year saw a total 184 020 incidents reported, the highest since 2019, and up 19 067 from the same period in 2021.
Of the top 30 police stations for community-reported serious crimes nationally, Cape Town central was number one, followed by Mitchells Plain.
Ilitha Labantu – an organisation that advocates for the rights of women, children and vulnerable persons – said it was deeply concerned about the high prevalence of violence in South Africa.
“Stronger measures ought to be implemented by the government to address crime and violence in South Africa. As civil society organisations, we appeal to our justice system to impose harsher sentences on those perpetrating these crimes, and also for government to properly implement the national strategic plan on (gender-based violence and femicide), which aims to provide a multi-sectoral, coherent strategic policy and programming framework to strengthen a co-ordinated national response to the crisis of gender-based violence and femicide. Sadly, the lack of co-ordinated effort has led to a disparity in efforts towards fighting gender-based violence and femicide,” Ilitha Labantu spokesperson Siya Monakali said.
Cape Times