Cape Town - Experts have said the sharp increase in kidnappings in the Western Cape point to a new and upsetting crime trend in South Africa.
Some of the recent cases include the high-profile kidnapping of businessman Ismail Rajah, 69.
The owner of Good Hope Construction was kidnapped in front of his business in Parow at 11am on March 9. He was rescued after being held for 111 days.
There was also the case of Shireen Essop, a 32-year-old mother who was kidnapped on May 23 after leaving work.
She was snatched by men while driving along Varkensvlei Road in Philippi. Her car was found abandoned.
Essop was found three weeks later, at the Klipfontein Mission Station, by neighbourhood watch patrollers who contacted her family.
Bangladeshi nationals said five of their countrymen were recently kidnapped in Cape Town and ransom demands were made by an alleged kidnapping syndicate.
In June, Manenberg residents marched in protest, spurred by rumours of increased kidnappings by syndicates. This after a Bishop Lavis infant, Kai-isha Maniers, was allegedly abducted in May by an unknown woman.
Asked whether kidnappings for ransom and extortion were on the increase because the criminals were getting paid, Institute of Security Studies analyst Lizette Lancaster said the kidnappings that most often made the news involved wealthy business people or their family members.
“However, kidnapping for extortion or ransom contributes to less than 5% of the sample analysed by the police, but the figure may be higher as many cases aren’t reported due to threats made by the perpetrators,” she said.
Lancaster said some criminal groups specialised in kidnapping for ransom as it was perceived as a relatively low-risk, high-reward endeavour.
SAPS said Crime Intelligence’s national Anti-Kidnapping Task Team, established in November 2021, was dealing with the abductions that were fuelled by ransom demands.
Commenting on the crime statistics last month, Police Minister Bheki Cele said that in the past year, nationally, 3 306 kidnapping cases were opened with the police.
Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen said kidnapping was a deep concern and had been increasing nationally in the past 10 years, although there was a decrease in 2020/21.
Quoting the most recent statistics, Allen said that in the Western Cape from January to March in the 2020/21 financial year there had been 193 cases, while during the same period in the 2021/22 financial year there had been 209 cases, which was an increase of 16 cases, or 8.3%.
He said there were 29 cases of kidnaps involving hijacking, 37 involving robbery, 21 rape related, 18 linked to revenge, 10 domestic related, six involved a child removed from its guardian, and two cases of extortion.
Allen said the top 10 SAPS stations where kidnappings were reported were Mitchells Plain, Gugulethu, Delft, Khayelitsha, Mfuleni, Bishop Lavis, Harare, Bellville, Nyanga and Kraaifontein.
