Cape Town - As police statistics show a marked increase in kidnappings across the Western Cape, with 632 incidents reported between January and September, experts have said that while kidnappings are not a new phenomenon, the sharp rise in numbers is a disturbing trend.
Of this number, 101 kidnappings were reported by police to have been linked to incidents of retaliation, revenge, punishment, ransom, extortion, intimidation and human trafficking.
In a recent report, security risk management consultants Crisis24 said: “While the number of kidnappings has increased in the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces still report the highest overall numbers.”
In September, anti-crime activist Hanif Loonat told a public meeting attended by Police Minister Bheki Cele, national police commissioner Fannie Masemola, and Western Cape police commissioner Thembisile Patekile, among others, about a syndicate he alleges is behind some of the recent kidnappings in Cape Town.
Loonat did not publicly disclose the details of the syndicate, but shared these with the police top brass who attended the meeting at the invitation of the interfaith community and civil society groups.
The meeting came shortly after the killing of Cape Town businessman Khalid Parker during what was reported to have been a botched kidnapping.
One of the more high profile incidents of kidnappings for ransom and extortion in Cape Town this year was that of the owner of Good Hope Construction, Ismail Rajah, who was taken on March 9 and held for 111 days.
Others included those of Shireen Essop, a 32-year-old mother who was kidnapped on May 23 after leaving work and held for three weeks, Abirah Dekhta,8, who was held for two weeks and Anichka Penev who was released after an eight-day ordeal.
Several Somali, Chinese and Bangladeshi businessmen including Akter Pradhan who was kidnapped in Mitchells Plain and held for two weeks have also been victims of kidnapping.
In July, Institute of Security Studies analyst Lizette Lancaster said the kidnappings that most often made the news involved wealthy business people or their family members.
“However, kidnapping for extortion or ransom contributes to less than 5% of the sample analysed by the police, but the figure may be higher as many cases aren’t reported due to threats made by the perpetrators.”