A 47-year-old man who was kidnapped for a ransom in Cape Town has been rescued by police. The man (whose identity has not been made public) was kidnapped at gun point on Thursday morning, 25 March, in Bellville.
According to South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa, members of the National Intervention Unit (NIU), along with Bellville detectives, a hostage negotiation team and Crime Intelligence received information about the location of the kidnappers and rescued the man from a house in the Nyanga informal settlement.
Potelwa said, “The special operation came into effect as a response to a robbery and kidnapping case opened in Bellville. Reports at the disposal of police indicate that the victim, a foreign national, was accosted by four armed suspects on Voortrekker Road at 9:50 on Thursday morning and a substantial amount of cash as well as a cellphone was taken from him before he was taken away,” also stating, “Ten suspects between the ages of 20 and 30 were subsequently arrested.”
The arrested suspects are expected to appear in Bellville Magistrates’ Court today. Potelwa praised police officials involved in the rescue, citing it as part of intensifying efforts “to fight the scourge of kidnappings and extortion.”