Durban - A shop owner from Kranskop, near Greytown in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, his son, and two staff members were kidnapped on Thursday according to Magma Security & Investigation owner Shaheen Suleiman.
In a statement released on Saturday, Suleiman said that on January 5, 2023 at approximately 9am there had been a report of a kidnapping in Kranskop.
He said a joint operation involving Magma Security, Pietermaritzburg Hostage Negotiators, members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in Pietermaritzburg and Durban, the Kranskop and Greytown SAPS, and Tracker Connect had been put in place.
“A shop owner, his son, and two staff members were taken along with their White Toyota Hilux,” said Suleiman.
According to Suleiman, the family of the victims approached Magma Security & Investigation to assist them with investigating the incident, carrying out negotiations, and ensuring the safe return of the victims.
“After intense negotiations, the four victims were released in the early hours of Friday morning and returned to their families,” he said.
Suleiman said the investigation into the kidnapping was still ongoing.
Police have confirmed the incident.
IOL recently reported that according to crime experts and police sources sophisticated multinational criminal gangs with tentacles throughout Africa, Asia and Europe are behind the upsurge in kidnapping cases.
The report comes after several business people have been kidnapped and their families contacted by the gangs, who demand millions rand for their release over the period of several months.
The following are recent examples of kidnapping cases listed in the report:
- In October, two men believed to be behind kidnapping a 60-year-old Durban businessman and attempting to extort money from his family were arrested at a premises in Bloemfontein. Police said the businessman had allegedly been leaving his business premises in Umgeni Road in Durban when he was accosted by four armed males and forced into their vehicle. The gang, who held him hostage for seven days, demanded a R10 million ransom for his release.
- In September, police arrested two men who are believed to be part of a kidnap-for-ransom gang targeting foreign nationals living in the country. The men had kidnapped a 24-year-old Indian national from a parking lot in the Durban CBD and held him hostage before demanding that his family pay a ransom.
Yusuf Abramjee, an anti-crime activist, said kidnappings were not new to South Africa and had been going on for many years.