The abducted daughter of a local furniture chain store owner has been released, Daily Voice has revealed.
A reliable source says the woman, daughter of the owner of Decofurn, was freed on Wednesday morning after the kidnappers are said to have demanded a ransom of R25 million.
“The woman was released to her family, I’m not sure about her condition,” the source told Daily Voice.
“All I know is that the kidnappers took her from the Killarney Gardens store last Friday.
“I have it on good authority that the kidnappers asked for R25 million ransom. If they freed her, then something must have been paid, but I can’t confirm the amount.”
The police would neither confirm nor deny if the woman had been returned to her family, only saying that it was a “sensitive investigation”.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said: “This office can confirm that the matter is under investigation by Organised Crime, Western Cape.
“At this stage, the investigation it is at a very sensitive stage and the dissemination of any information may jeopardise the progress made thus far.”
“The family of the victim requests their privacy be respected by the media.”
In a previous response, Van Wyk also said the family had asked SAPS not to release any information to the media as it could place the victim in harm’s way.
The SAPS Organised Crime unit in the Western Cape is investigating the matter.
Soon after news of this latest kidnapping broke, Imraahn Mukaddam, the coordinator of the United Public Safety Front, said Cape Town was turning into Mexico where kidnapping cartels are rampant.
“These days, it’s easier to steal a person than to steal a car, at least a car has a tracker.
“We would like to warn high profile business people to bring security measures to their families,” he said.
This kidnapping happened just a few weeks after prominent construction company owner Ismail Rajah was rescued by police, after he was snatched outside his business premises in Parow earlier this year.
He was kept hostage for 111 days at a house in Robert Sobukwe Street in Khayelitsha.
Five people have been arrested, one of them Elijah Silinga, who was granted bail despite Rajah identifying him as one of the kidnappers in an identity parade.