Police arrest two for kidnapping of dogwalker, 85, at popular Joburg park

Two suspects are to appear before the Johannesburg magistrate's court on Monday in connection with the kidnapping of an elderly man in February.

Police spokesperson Col Noxolo Kweza said Parkview police arrested two people aged 31 and 43 on Thursday.

The 85-year-old former businessman was abducted at the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens on the morning of February 9.

He had been walking his dogs through the park in Emmarentia, which he apparently did every morning at about 10am. He was seen being approached and snatched by three men who shoved him into a white panel van.

The vehicle’s registration plates were later confirmed to have been cloned and the man’s cellphone was also left behind.

Since his disappearance, his family has withheld his identity to give police time to investigate the kidnapping.

He was released at Montgomery Park nearly two months later.

Kweza said police investigations are continuing.

TimesLIVE