Man held after kidnapped Kuils River family freed

A 34-year-old man believed to be a member of a syndicate that kidnapped a Kuils River family was arrested on Thursday September 5, say the Hawks.

This comes after four family members were kidnapped on Thursday August 24 and rescued the next day by an anti-kidnapping task team consisting of the Hawks and other policing agencies.

“It is reported that the four victims, all family members, left Kuils River in a vehicle. They were on their way to Helderstroom Prison in Caledon, where the father works as a prison warden,” said Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Zinzi Hani.

The kidnappers had demanded a ransom of R100 000 per person, totalling to R400 000, from the family's brother and instructed him not to involve the police.

There was no money paid by the brother of the victims, but the kidnappers managed to transfer R16 000 from the accounts of the victims, Warrant Officer Hani said.

The victims were released in the early hours of Sunday August 25 at around 4.30am, near Philippi East, and the police gave them a lift to Kuils River police station.

“The reason for the release of the hostages is that the kidnappers were already identified and while being traced by the police there was a shootout between the police and the kidnappers on Saturday August 24 and that was a real threat to them hence they released the hostages,” she said.

The suspect will make his first court appearance on Monday September 9 in Paarl Magistrates’ Court.

Warrant Officer Hani said more arrests were imminent.