A BUSINESSWOMAN and her son who were taken by hijackers outside their plush Johannesburg estate were held overnight in a rondavel, as the suspects demanded her husband do e-wallet transfers to several cellphone numbers.
Masela Pillay, 54, and her son Deeshaan, 23, a university student, were leaving their Silver Stone Estate, in Centurion, when they were cornered by the suspects.
A relative, who did not want to be named, said the mother and son were very shaken after their ordeal and were receiving counselling.
She said they were travelling to a relative’s home in the nearby Stoneridge Country Estate, when a VW Polo boxed them in.
“About five armed men jumped off the vehicles and rushed towards them. Masela and Deeshaan tried to flee but the suspects chased after them and shoved them into the back of the car before driving off.”
She said alarm bells went off when they failed to pitch at the relative’s home.
“These relatives then called Masela’s husband, Neelin. He told them that they were first going to a nearby shop to buy bottled water. But he tried calling them and both their phones went unanswered,” said the relative.
She said the family had just taken on a new project and had opened a business account for the clients to deposit money in.
While she would not disclose how much was in the account, the relative said it was “substantial”.
“Neelin logged on to their banking app and found that Deeshaan has transferred money via e-wallet to two cellphone numbers. It was at this point that Neelin knew something was wrong. He had also said that if Masela had changed her route, she would have informed him.”
The relative said they then alerted the local private security companies and the community policing forum.
“They set up a search party and helped circulate Masela and Deeshaan’s pictures on social media. We also opened a case at the police station.”
“At the police station one of Deeshaan's friends called his cellphone in the hope he would answer. An unknown man picked up and said he was a kidnapper. We were so scared…”
The relative said Neelin then called Deeshaan's phone and the “kidnapper” told him that he had Masela and his son.
“The kidnapper wanted to know if the car had a tracker. Neelin replied it did not. The kidnapper threatened to kill Masela if he was lying. Neelin begged the man to take the car and let them go. This angered the kidnapper and he told Neelin not to tell him what to do.”
The relative said the kidnapper asked for the money in the account.
“He wanted Neelin to give him two e-wallet payments – one for R3 000 and another for R2 000. We tried to string them along and did the first payment of R3 000 by 11.30pm. By this time we had reported the matter to the police. There were hostage negotiators and private security at Neelin's home, waiting to talk to the kidnapper.”
The relative said at around 12.05am they lost contact with the kidnappers.
“Around 2am we received a call that Masela and Deeshaan were safe at a police station. They told us that they were being kept in an area called Hebron and had been taken to a rondavel where they were instructed to lay face-down on a bed.
“The room also had a toilet and bathroom. There were about nine suspects with them. During the ordeal Deeshaan tried to beg them to let him and his mother go but they just assaulted him.”
The relative said the kidnappers let them go after a few hours.
“They ran to different homes knocking on doors for help but they were ignored. Eventually a taxi drove by and Deeshaan begged the driver to take them to a police station. Neelin was called and Deeshaan and Masela were taken to hospital. We are thankful to everyone who helped us and are grateful that they were not harmed.”
The Gauteng police did not comment by the time of publication.