THE intricate details of how the kidnapping for ransom of the chief financial officer of Crossmoor (Xmoor)Transport – a family owned business – was planned and executed, emerged in the Durban High Court this week.
Sandra Munsamy, 46, was forced off the road in Pinetown and taken at gunpoint on May 30, 2019. Her alleged kidnappers demanded a $10 million (R148m) ransom from her family.
At the time, the mother-of-two was taken to a house in Emalahleni (Witbank) in Mpumalanga where she was chained at the ankle and held captive for more than five months. She was rescued during a joint operation by members of several law enforcement agencies on November 7, 2019.
Lucas John Ndlovu, 36, and Dumisani Radebe, 39, both of Mpumalanga, Jose Omega Tembe, 38, and Arthur Da Silva Mondlane, 36, both Mozambican nationals who lived in Gauteng, have been charged with kidnapping and attempted extortion.
Radebe, Tembe and Mondlane were also charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances. The latter two were also charged for being illegal immigrants.
Last week in court, Radebe pleaded guilty to kidnapping.
In his plea, read out by his attorney, Shahin Azmuth, Radebe claimed that in June 2019 he got a job from his friend Bheki to take care of a property in Witbank and to cook.
He said he lived with Bheki and another man named Don, who left the house in September 2019. Radebe said he was not allowed to enter the room Munsamy was held in.
He said in October 2019, Bheki fell ill and was unable to return to the property.
Radebe said Bheki had told him that Munsamy was being kept in the room because she owed his bosses money and was to be released when payment was made.
“He gave me instructions to care for her until he returned. He also told me to get someone to assist me as I should not be alone on the property.”
Radebe said Bheki left behind a Samsung smartphone with him, which he and the bosses called on to speak to Munsamy.
“When I first had sight of Sandra, I noticed that she had a chain around her leg attached to a wall. I understand that it is wrongful and unlawful to keep a person chained to the wall.”
State prosecutor Cheryl Naidu said they did not accept the plea because it was inconsistent with their evidence.
Munsamy was not the initial target
During his testimony last week, General Gopal Govender, the head of the Hawks in Limpopo and one of the arresting officers, told the court that Munsamy was not the initial target.
He said that Tembe had told him about the planning of the kidnapping, which was between himself, Radebe and Mondlane.
He said Mondlane’s cousin Almika, a feared Mozambican criminal, and another man named Chris, who was a professional kidnapper, were also involved.
‘Her brother bragged about how much money he had’
The plot to kidnap Munsamy was initiated by Almika when he went to buy a gold mine with Munsamy’s brother, Alvin Naicker, in Zimbabwe, General Govender testified.
He said that during the trip, Alvin had boasted about how much money he had and how he had loaned $12 million with ease.
“Tembe indicated that he and Mondlane decided R10 million would be a sufficient ransom amount,” said General Govender.
He said Munsamy’s father was the initial target of the kidnapping. But after surveillance on him, they found he was too old and looked sickly and changed the target to his son Inderan Naicker.
General Govender testified that the target was changed again to Munsamy because, while monitoring Inderan from work, home, church, the mall and surrounding areas, they established he did not have a fixed routine.
“He knew all the back roads and used shortcuts. He drove very fast,” said General Govender.
He said Munsamy was chosen because it was easy to follow and kidnap her.
“The funding for the operation was between Almika, Tembe and Mondlane. Mondlane was the second in charge, the go-between between Tembe and Almika, and he was responsible for all the tech resources. During the planning, they stayed in a flat owned by a woman named Luleka,” General Govender testified.
He said the ransom was to be split.
“The strategy was when they kidnapped victims from South Africa or Mozambique they kept them close to the border, so they could take them across the border. In this way they could evade the tracking and tracing of their phones,” General Govender told the court.
He said the South African cellular networks were unable to trace or track calls made from Mozambique.
Extraction team hired for kidnapping
General Govender said the accused hired an extraction team to help them carry out the kidnapping.
At the continuation of the trial on Monday, General Govender said that according to Tembe the kidnapping was initially planned for May 29, 2019.
General Govender said Tembe and Mondlane used a C63 to follow Munsamy, who was driving a black Range Rover, to a shopping mall.
He said Tembe parked his vehicle close to the exit, so he could get out of the parking lot quickly.
“The extraction team was in a white, 1 series BMW, parked close to the victim’s vehicle, so it would be easy to kidnap her.”
He said Munsamy entered the mall and went to Mugg & Bean. Tembe followed her.
General Govender said Munsamy was with an unknown Indian male and they left the mall after some time.
“Tembe immediately contacted Chris, who was outside with the extraction, to inform them they were leaving.”
He said when Munsamy came outside, the operation was abandoned because it was risky.
“They suspected that the Indian man had a big gun,” General Govender testified.
General Govender said the kidnapping was planned for the next day at Crossmoor Transport in Pinetown at 3pm.
“Tembe and Mondlane parked outside the company under a tree. They were dressed in blue overalls to conceal their identities. Chris and Radebe were parked at a nearby garage in an NP 200 and the extraction team was on the freeway,” he said.
General Govender said as Munsamy got on to the off-ramp, an NP 200 came in front of Munsamy’s vehicle and stopped, causing her to halt abruptly.
He said Munsamy was grabbed and put into the extraction team’s vehicle and was later handed over to Tembe and Mondlane, who placed her in the boot of their car and drove to Gauteng.
General Govender said Munsamy was taken to a house in Jackals Creek where she was kept in a closet and, after two days, was transported to the house in Witbank, which was barricaded with timber.
He said during Mondlane’s arrest he “cried like a baby” because he did not want to be sent back to Mozambique out of fear he would be killed.
He said Mondlane’s statement collaborated with Tembe’s.
General Govender said Mondlane had purchased burner or fake phones from Durban, from where the ransom demand was sent.
Plotting and surveillance
He said they started monitoring Munsamy from November 2018 but took a break between December and January because the company was working with skeleton staff over the Christmas break.
He said they started again in late January until March and went on a vigorous surveillance of the victim and befriended a lot of their drivers.
“They sat with the drivers to get information about the victims. Tembe and Mondlane also attempted to get jobs as drivers.”
General Govender said the Hawks and EMPD Swat Team went to the house to rescue Munsamy. He said they saw Lucas John Ndlovu standing outside on his cellphone.
He said the team tried to breach the front and back doors but they were heavily secured. They then went through the garage, where they found two men.
He said he was directed to the room Munsamy was in. “I opened the door and I noticed a female on the bed traumatised and fearful. One of her legs was chained and she started crying. The room was turned into a prison. Windows were secured with plywood. Not even a drop of sunlight was allowed inside the room.
“The room had an ensuite. The chain was plus minus 10m long, which allowed her to go into the shower, to the toilet and to be on the bed. Everything else was out of her reach. She was chained for 160 days,” testified General Govender.
He said Munsamy had been traumatised by being in the boot for the duration of the trip from KwaZulu-Natal to Witbank.
The matter is continuing.