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Help find kidnapped Milnerton businessman Roger Brijlal

Mandilakhe Tshwete|Published

Cape Town businessman, Roger Brijlal, was kidnapped in Milnerton as he drove to work.

Image: Supplied

POLICE are investigating the kidnapping of a businessman who was taken near his Milnerton home almost two weeks ago.

Roger Brijlal, a prominent business owner, was last seen in the morning of September 9, and later that day, his car was recovered abandoned in Joe Slovo.

A source close to Brijlal said they became worried when he failed to turn up for work on the morning he disappeared.

“He’s a creature of habit,” the source said. “He would communicate with his family and co-workers early in the morning, but he didn’t that morning. Concern grew throughout the morning when attempts to reach him failed. Continuous efforts were made to reach out to him, but he was not answering his phone, and by that afternoon, a missing persons case was opened.”

However, it is now understood that subsequent contact was received by a person close to Brijlal from the people who took him, making demands.

The source explained: “A case was opened at Milnerton police station, and that was when his vehicle, a VW Amarok, was recovered abandoned in Joe Slovo.”

The source said Brijlal suffers from hypertension and asthma.

Another concern is that he is not in the best of health. Even though he is known for being a strong person, he doesn’t have any form of medication with him. It is possible that the kidnappers may have been watching him for some time.”

“The community can help us find him. That’s where the information could come from. This is very painful for the family; they are desperate to find him, and they want to bring him back home.”

Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg confirmed that the Provincial Anti-Kidnapping Task Team is investigating Brijlal’s case.

“The mentioned case number is a kidnapping and extortion case. According to reports, the complainant’s fiancé did not come home, and she went to report him missing.

“The complainant then received a telephone call demanding a ransom for the victim’s safe return. The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation, and arrests are yet to be made.”

Brijlal’s family declined to comment.

In a separate incident, earlier this month, the Anti-Kidnapping Task Team made a breakthrough when they reunited an Indian businessman with his family.

The businessman was found in Alexandra, Johannesburg, in a shack shortly after midnight on September 4, 2025.

His rescue followed a shooting in which the alleged mastermind behind his kidnapping was shot and killed during a confrontation with police officers near the R21 in Kempton Park.

The suspect who went by the nickname “Dollarman” was a kidnapping kingpin in both South Africa and Mozambique.

From July 2021 to September 2025, more than 337 kidnappers have been arrested by the SAPS Anti-Kidnapping Task Team, and more than 146 illegal firearms have been seized in all these crime scenes.

Anyone with any information on Brijlal's whereabouts can anonymously contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.

Cape Times