A 34 year old man who was kidnapped last night (Wednesday, 01/06/2022) from his home in Magwaveni, Tongaat – KZN was located at a block of flats in Cornubia – KZN this afternoon (Thursday).
The victim’s family arrived at the Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) Headquarters in Verulam -KZN at 19:37 seeking assistance after the victim made telephonic contact with them informing them that he managed to escape his captors and sought assistance from a resident at the flats in Cornubia. His family informed Reaction Officers that they had registered a missing persons case at the Tongaat SAPS. Officers escorted the family to the location provided and re-united them with the missing male.
According to the victim, he was consuming alcohol with friends last night at his residence. They left at approximately 21:45 leaving him alone in his house. Shortly after getting into bed, he heard a knock on the door. When he enquired who it was, a man asked him to open up so they consume more alcohol. When the victim refused four suspects forced their way into the home. The men were all armed with firearms.
The suspects instructed him to lay face down on the floor and not look at them. They then demanded money and informed him that they were aware that he collected a large payout from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
After failing to locate cash in the house, the suspects blindfolded him and loaded him into a silver Toyota Corolla (registration unknown). He was driven to an unknown location where he was asked to handover his cellphone and the pin for his bank card. The suspects purchased alcohol and withdrew cash from his account before transporting him to a house. Around midnight he was left with two of his kidnappers while their accomplices proceeded to withdraw more money.
On their return, they blindfolded him again and transported him to a different location where he was kept overnight. This morning the victim questioned the suspects as to when he was going to be released. They informed him that they waiting for midnight to withdraw more money as his limit for the day was reached. At approximately 19:00, he overheard the suspects saying after withdrawing the money they would kill him and dump his body in a dam.
The victim then jumped out the first floor window from the room he was being held hostage. He then realised that he was at the flats in Cornubia. He fled and sought assistance from a resident who assisted him with a cellphone to contact his family.
A total of R15 000 was withdrawn from his bank account.