Kidnapped municipal manager Maggie Skosana talks of week-long ordeal

After a week-long kidnapping ordeal, the municipal manager of the Nkangala district, Margaret “Maggie” Skosana, says she will have a difficult time trusting the police.

“You wouldn’t know next time when you are stopped whether it’s a real police officer or a person impersonating a police officer,” she said.

Skosana told eNCA how she and her driver, Gugu Mtsweni were kidnapped last week as they entered the municipal premises by people posing as police.

“They stopped us and identified themselves as police. They then told me I was under arrest and said we needed to go to my house, where they said the other police officers were waiting,” she said.

Skosana said she complied and drove with one of the kidnappers in one vehicle, while her driver was kept in another vehicle.

“I drove for a couple of kilometres with one of the kidnappers while my driver was in the car. He didn’t say much. He kept on saying, ‘Shut up, we are trying to assist you here.'”

Skosana appeared calm and composed during the interview and said she did not want to divulge much of what happened as investigators were still probing the case. She said they would reveal the real reason behind her kidnapping.

“I’m traumatised even now. It makes it difficult for me to trust police vans and vehicles because those people were impersonating police,” she said.

Without going into detail, Skosana said in the beginning she thought her kidnapping was just a random criminal incident, but that was not the case.

“I honestly thought it’s one of those people who want to rob you because they demanded cards and PINs, but then I realised it is more than that.”

A multimillion-rand ransom had been demanded for her and her driver's release. She did not disclose whether a ransom was paid.

She said the time they spent in captivity was quite emotional and prayer kept them going.

“We were not mentally OK. You are under the power of these people and you don’t know if they will kill you or release you. You just hope for the best. We kept on praying for God to set us free,” she said.

“It was difficult. We didn’t know where we were. We didn’t know the people we were with in the house, and we didn’t know when we’d be released.”

Skosana said before their release, the kidnappers informed them that they would let them go.

The pair were found shortly before midnight on Wednesday.

Police spokesperson Col Donald Mdhluli said they had allegedly been dumped by their assailants in the bushes near the N14 road in Diepsloot. 

Mtsweni was “tied with some ropes but she somehow managed to manoeuvre to the road”.

“A taxi driver found her. She related the story to the taxi driver who immediately informed the police. The police then went with them to the bushes, where the municipal manager was found.”

Skosana said she wouldn’t be able to identify the attackers. 

“They had masks covering their nose and when they took us to their car, they took those masks and put them on us. We were told to lie down throughout the journey. We don’t even know the house we were at. We don’t even know the location,” she said.

Skosana’s car was found hours after their abduction last week. Her wheelchair, handbag and medication were found inside the car, which had been left at a nearby mine.

Skosana said the kidnappers carried her whenever she needed to use the bathroom as they had left her wheelchair in her car.

On the time-frame for her returning to work, she said she would look into the issue with her employer because she needed to go back to work eventually.

The private investigator appointed by the families of the two women, Mike Bolhuis, told TimesLIVE that a debriefing was under way to ascertain why the two were targeted.

“In kidnappings, we always debrief to check why this happened and who could be behind it. We do it so that we can catch the criminals,” Bolhuis said.

He welcomed the pair's safe return.

“They were both in a good condition. We thank the police and everyone who assisted in the search.”

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.