Kidnapping for ransom has surged in Gauteng, with 82 cases reported since April 2024, most of them concentrated in the Johannesburg area. This concerning trend, which largely targets foreign nationals, was discussed in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on Friday, 13 September 2024.
Lieutenant-General Tommy Mthombeni, Gauteng’s provincial police commissioner, presented crime statistics for the first quarter of the 2024/25 financial year at the Southern Sun Hotel in Rosebank. The statistics highlighted five high-profile kidnapping cases handled by a specialised unit within the Organised Crime Unit, all involving foreign nationals. The victims included two Portuguese nationals, one Algerian, one Indian, and one Pakistani, with ransom demands ranging between R5 million and R10 million.
Three of these victims, desperate to secure their freedom, paid portions of the ransom. A Portuguese national paid R1.5 million, an Algerian paid R350,000, and a Pakistani paid R100,000. Fortunately, all five individuals were either released or rescued.
Mthombeni identified socioeconomic issues such as poverty, unemployment, and drug abuse as key drivers of the increase in kidnappings. “Kidnapping businesspeople is seen as an easy way to extort money from families,” he explained.
To combat these crimes, the police have implemented several measures. Mthombeni revealed that the Organised Crime Unit is collaborating with banks and the South African Banking Risk Information Centre to track kidnappers who use victims’ banking apps for illegal transactions. Additional efforts include:
- Forming forums with foreign nationals often targeted, including Chinese, Portuguese, and Indian communities.
- Establishing a specialised task force to handle these kidnapping cases.
- Strengthening partnerships with the director of public prosecutions and senior public prosecutors.
- Collaborating with private security firms to help curb kidnappings.
Between October and December 2023, 77 people were kidnapped for ransom, while seven were abducted for human trafficking. Mthombeni noted that human trafficking remains a growing concern, with foreign nationals frequently being exploited.
In one case handled by the East Rand Serious Crimes Investigation Unit, victims were lured via social media job offers. Ten people — seven from Lesotho and three from South Africa — were rescued after their passports were seized by a suspect, also from Lesotho. Another case in Edenvale saw the rescue of seven Thai nationals who had been forced into prostitution under a debt bondage scheme. Investigations are ongoing to uncover syndicate members involved in these crimes.
“These cases show the deep involvement of criminal syndicates, and we are working to expose their networks,” Mthombeni said.
Committee chairperson Bandile Masuku expressed his deep concern over the rise in kidnappings and human trafficking. He emphasized the need for ongoing police reports to monitor these issues and urged the Department of Home Affairs to get involved, given the high number of foreign nationals affected as both victims and perpetrators.
Masuku also raised concerns about the negative impact these incidents could have on business in areas like Bedfordview and Johannesburg. “We are worried about how these crimes affect the business environment in Gauteng’s economic hubs,” he said.
