Kidnappings in Gauteng are rising at an alarming rate, with some townships registering a 300% increase in the crime, forcing police to deploy more resources to address the problem.
On Tuesday Gauteng police commissioner Lt-Col Tommy Mthombeni tabled the quarterly crime statistics for the period covering October to December 2023 in the provincial legislature's portfolio committee on community safety, showing shocking statistics.
For the three months, there were 2,051 kidnappings in the province. Of this figure 77% involved a demand for a ransom, 1% was extortion and 7% was for human trafficking.
The 10 police stations with the most kidnapping cases all recorded an increase in the crime.
Moroka police station in Soweto recorded the highest number of kidnappings, which surged from 47 to 80, an increase of 70.2% compared to the same period in the previous year.
Loate police station in Winterveld, Tshwane, has the second most kidnappings, which increased from 17 to 76 — a whopping 347% surge.
Orange Farm, south of Joburg, had the third highest number of kidnappings, rising from 19 to 69, a 263% increase compared to the previous year.
The other police stations in the "top 10" are Thembisa, Lenasia, Eldorado Park, Ivory Park, Evaton, Midrand and Kempton Park.
Speaking to TimesLIVE Premium, Mthombeni said the surge in kidnappings is a concern and a team from organised crime prevention is looking into it. "That team is linked to our criminal record centre, vehicle tracking companies ... The majority of these cases we crack because Tracker can follow where the car has been hijacked,” he said.
The number of the kidnappings is shockingly high ... This is not the end of our discussion on the matters today. We are going to have continuous engagement
— Bandile Masuku, chair of portfolio committee on community safety
"The majority of them [victims] are business people, but it does not happen only to business people. Some of the people who are kidnapped [are] university students. They put the student in an excluded area and request the parents or relatives to deposit money. In some instances they can want as much as R2,000.
"People who are kidnapped are not necessarily business people with a lot of money.”
Mthombeni warned against responding to adverts on social media and then going to purchase that item in person.
"In Winterveld we had a person who is a businessman in the mining industry — [a] plant machine was advertised [on social media] and he ended up being kidnapped. The trailer which he was pulling to load the plant machine was taken, and his bakkie. We were only able to find these the next day through the collaboration with the [vehicle] tracking companies,” Mthombeni said.
Even people who work in the government or for media companies can become victims of kidnapping, he added.
Police spokesperson Brig Brenda Muridili said a contributing factor to the high number of kidnappings is the manner in which some other crimes are committed and reported.
"The reason we have skyrocketing numbers [is] if they are hijacking you, and they take you with your car to another place, we register [it as a] kidnapping, [even if] the purpose was not to kidnap you but to take your car. In some instances they keep you overnight so that they can withdraw money from your bank account,” she said.
Last year then provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Elias Mawela complained about kidnappings in Winterveld, where the youth used social media to lure people to the township to buy an item or vehicle. A child would then be sent to fetch the victim, who would be taken to a secluded location and robbed, he said.
Chairperson of the portfolio committee on community safety Bandile Masuku said it was disturbing to see so many kidnappings over a short time.
"The number of the kidnappings is shockingly high ... This is not the end of our discussion on the matters today. We are going to have continuous engagement,” he said.
"The other factor that influences these types of crimes is the branding of resources to the public. In the townships they [kidnappers] target people who drive SUVs and who are seen to be wealthy.”
Masuku also lamented statistics revealing that murder had gone up in the province, with 55 children murdered in the last three months of 2023.
"The most disappointing part is that they happen in spaces where the children are supposed to be safe — in their homes and with people they know. It is an issue that we need to increase our social awareness.”
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