DIRTY COPS AND COPYCATS
The involvement of police officials in kidnapping cases has also raised concerns.
Adolph Mnisi, a constable from Bramley police station, was arrested together with six others, facing charges of kidnapping, extortion, attempted murder, and robbery with aggravating circumstances, after a Portuguese butchery owner was kidnapped and rescued in October in Sandringham, east of Johannesburg.
SAPS spokesperson colonel Brenda Muridili confirmed Mnisi was suspended on June 14, given the charges levelled against him.
He is out on R5,000 bail together with five of his co-accused – Thato Mosime, Verlijio Hlungwani, Sandile Mthethwa, Qiniso Motha, Pride Khupe – while accused one, Andile Ellias Mthombeni, remains in custody.
The recent modus operandi of targeting Portuguese butchery owners has also sparked concerns among the Portuguese community in South Africa.
Spokesperson for the Portuguese Forum of SA, Roberto Silva, said the recent kidnappings of Portuguese South Africans is viewed “as an attack on the core of their family unit community”.
“We trust that the South African authorities, with the aid of the various stakeholders, will be able to bring those responsible to task and restore safety and the rule of law. There are other matters besides kidnappings which are of extreme concern, such as construction mafias, extortion, and intimidation of various groups, to which we are paying close attention. All our efforts are in collaboration with SAPS.”
But it’s not only the wealthy who are being targeted.
Copycat kidnapping syndicates continue to flourish in Gauteng communities, often preying on the poor, demanding ransoms of anything between R3,000 to R20,000.
And it doesn’t always end well, even if ransoms are paid by the families.
In May 2021, two siblings aged 28 and 29 were kidnapped and killed in Kagiso, despite the family complying and paying the R10,000 ransom demand.
The bodies of the brother and sister were found thrown into a river, both having sustained gunshot wounds to their heads.
The father of the children, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said nothing had ever come of the case.
“We have all been for therapy, especially my wife. She even went in for depression; she is still not all right, even to this day. On the birthdays of the kids, she is crying the entire night. Every time I speak about this, I have nightmares.”
EWN
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