“Community members must also do their part. Very often they know who is involved in these crimes and they need to report them,” Yusuf Abramjee, an anti-crime activist, told Grio.
Many African nations are facing a kidnapping ransom crisis, including South Africa, which has seen a high rate of kidnapping cases in recent months. This comes as the Biden-Harris administration is finding ways to promote peace, stability and economic growth in Africa.
In December, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with African presidents at the US-Africa Leaders Summit to strengthen ties between the United States and the African continent to combat challenges facing the continent.
Last year, Biden and Harris met with embattled South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Washington DC to strengthen ties between the two nations. Ramaphosa faces impeachment threats following allegations that he was involved in a 2020 kidnapping and bribery scandal.
In addition to the possible involvement of President Ramaphosa in the kidnapping scandal, authorities reported that more than 4,000 cases of kidnapping for ransom were recorded in the country between July 2022 and September 2022, double the 2021 rate for the country. same period, reported AFP.
“This year’s figures are the highest ever recorded in history,” anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee told Grio. “[Assailants] they do not hesitate to harm, torture or kill and often target foreigners visiting or living in the country, South African citizens and citizens of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Somalia or Ethiopia”.
Abramjee said that organized crime gangs are to blame for the increase in kidnapping cases, explaining: “They are very skilled, they have observers, they have people [assigned] to bring the victims, they have communicators and negotiators and they are heavily armed.”
He warned that copycat gangs are also a threat to the South African community: “These gangs are after so-called fast money and fast money. They will demand from 50,000 rand (2,889.12 USD) to half a million rand (28,891.24 USD).”
On October 5, 2022, the US Department of State issued a Level 2 Travel Advisory for Americans to “exercise increased caution in South Africa due to crime and civil unrest,” including “theft, rape, , vehicle thefts, robberies and protests”.
During a press conference on November 23, 2022, South African Police Minister Bheki Cele told reporters that combating the rise in kidnappings is a top priority.
“We looked at the circumstances around when the hijacking occurred, and most of the circumstances were attributable to the related hijacking… when a vehicle is being hijacked, the driver is also taken away and then maybe dumped somewhere at a later stage.” Cele said.
Abramjee told The Grio earlier this year that police have set up an anti-kidnapping task force and “they’ve made some good progress.” He added that “several crime syndicates and kingpins have been arrested, but some of them are still on the prowl.”
According to News24 from South Africa, on December 22, 2022, two brothers who immigrated from Thailand to South Africa were kidnapped. The suspects then contacted the brothers’ family and demanded a ransom for their safety. Two days after the kidnapping, a brother was rescued; however, the other brother was found to have died while in captivity.
That same month, Kevin Soal, a well-known businessman from Midrand, was kidnapped and allegedly forced to carry out various monetary transactions from his account. He was then transported to an isolated area and shot execution-style, the Times Live reported.
In 2005, British actor Benedict Cumberbatch was kidnapped while filming “To the Ends of the Earth” in KwaZulu-Natal, a coastal city south of Johannesburg. Cumberbatch told The Hollywood Reporter that as he and his friends were driving back to the movie set after spending a weekend scuba diving, the right front tire blew out. When they tried to replace the tire, six armed men aggressively approached them.
“They were like: ‘Look down! Look down! Put your hands on your heads! Look at the ground! And they started frisking us and said, ‘Where’s your money? Where are your drugs? she told The Hollywood Reporter.
Cumberbatch and his friends were then kidnapped and thrown into a vehicle. At some point during his capture, the raiders left him in the middle of nowhere overnight. Cumberbatch said that he feared for his life and thought that he might be raped or tortured. Unlike other kidnapping victims, the actor survived the ordeal.
According to the South African Police Service, for more than a decade kidnapping cases have been rising steadily, and Abramjee believes this is because South Africans don’t speak.
“Community members must also do their part. Very often they know who is involved in these crimes and they need to report them,” she said.
He continued: “And we’ve also seen that with some of the kidnappings, when the families pay the ransom money, they decide not to go after [justice] because they fear for their lives.”
Abramjee warned anyone planning to visit or reside in South Africa to “always be vigilant” and if they witness a kidnapping to “come forward.”
“The police have the skills and knowledge with the help of the private sector to bring these kidnappings to [an end],” he said.
TheGrio has reached out to the White House about the matter, but has not received comment at press time.
TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Too, download theGrio mobile apps today!
The increase in post-South African kidnappings at an alarming rate was first featured on TheGrio.
