Durban taxi driver to serve 17 years for kidnapping and robbing passenger

A Durban taxi driver who kidnapped and robbed a female passenger has been sentenced to 17 years behind bars.

Zama Zulu,35, was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for kidnapping and five years for theft in the Durban Regional Court on Friday.

Police spokesman Colonel Thembeka Mbele said the sentences would run consecutively.

"It is alleged on February 20 2018, at 10.30pm, a 21-year-old woman took a taxi from South Beach to Smith Street.

"When she asked the driver to jump off at Smith Street, the taxi did not stop. Instead the driver locked the door and was assisted by the other man who was in the taxi.

"The accused’s accomplice threatened the victim and took her bag with her belongings," said Mbele.

The woman suffered injuries after jumping out of the moving taxi. She was taken to hospital for treatment.

She opened charges of kidnapping and theft. Four days after the incident police arrested Zulu in the Point area.

"He made several court appearance and his bail was denied until his sentence.

"His accomplice is still at large and being sought by police," said Mbele.