A kidnapping victim in Cape Town was told to sell his family farms to pay the R1m ransom demanded for his release.
The alternative, his kidnappers assured, was death.
However, the tables were turned on Siviwe Yekiso and Lungisa Mafuneka when they were arrested in November last year for kidnapping couple Sabelo Ndwe and Melissa Aripiya.
Sydwell and Mafuneka were last week denied bail by the Khayelitsha magistrate’s court, thanks in part to an affidavit by provincial kidnapping task team investigator W/O Melvyn Geldenhuys. They were arrested on November 29 when police traced them to an ATM where they were trying to withdraw ransom money at Zevenwacht Mall in Kuils River.
They have now been linked to a broader network of kidnappers operating out of Khayelitsha, many of whom have been arrested, including two alleged kingpins, Sivuyile Mki and Xolani Jiyose. Jiyose has been added as a third accused in Ndwe and Aripiya’s kidnapping case, and more arrests are possible.
Ndwe and Aripiya ran a business selling wigs in the townships east of Cape Town. On Tuesday November 22 Aripiya received a call from a prospective client called Melissa, with an order for a wig.
Geldenhuys’s affidavit said the victims were asked to deliver the wig to an address in Lingelethu-West, Khayelitsha. When Ndwe and Aripiya reached the address Melissa was nowhere to be found. Aripiya called to ask where she was and was asked in return to describe the make, model and colour of their vehicle.
“According to Aripiya, shortly after she gave the information to the female client, an old white vehicle stopped next to their vehicle. Six unknown black males alighted from the vehicle and approached them while she and Sabelo were seated inside their vehicle. The six males were all armed with firearms,” read the affidavit.
Ndwe and Aripiya were forced out of the car at gunpoint and into the back seat of the kidnappers’ car. Four of the kidnappers rode with the victims while the other two sped off in a blue vehicle.
“The victims were told to look down and their heads were covered with clothing. However, they already saw the faces of the armed men. Ndwe was also beaten with fists by one of the armed men because Aripiya was accused of looking at them. The victims give a description of two of the armed males in the vehicle with them,” said Geldenhuys in his affidavit. The victims were driven to a shack that sounded close to the ocean.
“The two victims were then forced to hand over their wallets, bank cards and pin numbers. The armed men demanded R1m ransom. The gunmen knew Sabelo’s family had two farms in the Eastern Cape which could be sold to raise the money, according to the affidavit.
“The armed men also forced Melissa and Sabelo to give the cellular number of Sabelo’s sister. Sabelo was beaten and assaulted during the time that they were held hostage. Melissa and Sabelo, were tied up with electrical cords by their hands and feet and blindfolded.”
The offences have also become more violent with one victim shot in cold blood when he resisted his kidnapping in Landsdownem and another child victim suffocated as result of being gagged during a kidnapping in Gugulethu.
— W/O Melvyn Geldenhuys, investigator
The victims were held hostage for eight days, receiving little food and water. In the two days before their rescue, the kidnappers stopped providing food altogether. “On November 29 2022, the two males, whom the victims identified as the driver and the passenger, left to go and withdraw money, the victims remained at the shack with another male,” read the affidavit.
By this time police hostage negotiators had managed to reduce the ransom demand to R30,000 and family started scraping together cash to pay for their release.
Their last captor left his post on November 30, realising his accomplices were not returning from withdrawing cash. Unknown to him, they had already been arrested.
“The victims managed to free themselves on November 30 2022 and escaped from the shack in Nkanini, Khayelitsha. They managed to run to Monwabisi Beach and got assistance from passers-by,” read the affidavit.
They were taken to hospital and treated for injuries. Ndwe had been repeatedly beaten with a spade, sjambok and a hammer.
Mafuneka had already been sentenced to 12 years in prison for a kidnapping committed in 2010. He was released in 2019 after serving nine years of his sentence. Yekiso was out on bail for aggravated robbery, allegedly committed in 2020.
However, he failed to appear in court and a warrant of arrest was issued for him in 2021. According to the affidavit, “kidnapping has become endemic in the Western Cape. It is fast becoming a lucrative alternative to armed robbery offences.
“Between April 1 2022 and January 31 2023, 65 cases of kidnapping cases have been registered with almost a 100% increase for the same period last year when were 35 cases were registered,” he said.
“The offences have also become more violent with one victim shot in cold blood when he resisted his kidnapping in Landsdowne and another child victim suffocated as result of being gagged during a kidnapping in Gugulethu. Another female victim was shot at during a kidnapping in Mfuleni,” said Geldenhuys. He said most victims were subjected to torture to force their families to pay. “The offence is increasing in prevalence and has spread instant fear over the safety of citizens in our communities,” he said.
“The applicants acted in concert with a criminal gang ... and are not your normal petty criminal. They are well-organised. The robbery and kidnapping was carefully and meticulously planned and it was committed in a brazen and violent manner. Each member of the gang has a specific role to play in the kidnapping and extortion of the hostages,” he said.
He said the perpetrators were well-equipped and used technology to protect and conceal their identity and the location of their victims.
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