Amid the surge of kidnappings in South Africa, police say they are winning the war.
Despite this, SAPS National Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, revealed that some kingpins are operating outside the country.
Masemola also said there was a relationship between kidnapping and drugs and vowed to arrest the perpetrators.
Kidnappings, human trafficking and drug offences are currently on the rise.
Masemola told anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee on Sunday that law enforcement officers were busy with kidnapping investigations.
“Unfortunately, some of the kingpins are not in the country, they are within Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.
“We have engaged through Interpol, our neighbouring countries where these people are with a view to get them back.
“We asked our counterparts to assist us with the paperwork. But in the country, yes, we’ve made quite a number of strides.
“We have arrested more than 32 suspects recently and a number of hostage releases were safely executed.
“We will continue, we will not stop, but we have learnt now that there is a relationship between kidnapping and drugs, with the recent arrest of eight people.
“So, it gives us a different direction, we will follow up, and we will continue with the arrest of these syndicates,” Masemola said.
Last week, the SAPS said a highlight of major take-downs included two kidnappers who were arrested and 90 undocumented Ethiopian nationals rescued from a suspected human trafficking ring in Johannesburg.
A total of R300 million worth of drugs, suspected to be crystal meth, were seized in Fourways, Johannesburg.
In the same operation, a kidnapped businessman was rescued and eight kidnappers arrested.
According to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), kidnapping in South Africa is four times higher than 10 years ago.
The ISS said kidnapping for ransom or extortion cases are often covered by the media, encouraging the view that this motive drives the substantial rise in these offences.
However, fewer than two kidnappings out of the daily average are linked to ransom demands, human trafficking or extortion.
“Some abductions are committed by sophisticated transnational groups specialising in high-value kidnappings.
“Local crime groups may carry out copycat attacks when they see the success of high-profile kidnappings,” said Lizette Lancaster, crime hub manager, ISS Pretoria.
In the same interview, Deputy Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya said he was quite confident that police were winning the war against kidnappings.
“We have a prolific team working on kidnappings in partnership with private security companies that are at all material times involved.
“They are active and are working with police and up to now we’ve been doing a good job. We have arrested most people involved and those who we are still looking for, we know who they are, and we are after them,” said Sibiya.
In most cases a number of business people have been targeted. A number of videos that went viral on various social media platforms perpetrators are seen kidnapping businessmen outside their businesses. Some had been rescued while some had been killed. It is alleged that in most cases, the perpetrators are foreign nationals.
In July, police rescued two Portuguese businessmen who were kidnapped from their business premises, one in Florida and the other in the south of Johannesburg.
Sibiya assured business people that police are doing their best to fight against kidnappers.
“So far with our successes, and convictions, they (business people) can rest assured that we are here to protect them and we are in control.
“The numbers are coming down tremendously and we are winning the war against kidnappers,” said Sibiya.
Just last week, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said they were concerned about the number of undocumented foreign nationals. He, too, highlighted the link between drugs and kidnappings.
Police were prioritising murder, drugs, kidnappings and extortion, Mchunu said.
Police said working together with all stakeholders and community tip-offs, they will continue to take down more syndicates believed to be behind the spate of kidnappings for ransom across the country.
According to 2023/24 SAPS crime statistics, between July and September there were an alarming 4 300 reported kidnapping cases.
Meanwhile, Mozambique’s National Criminal Investigation Service have confirmed the existence of three international arrest warrants for citizens identified as “potential kidnapping masterminds now in South Africa”, adding that they were working in co-ordination with Interpol.
The Star