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Anti-kidnapping unit’s tireless 'unseen work' earns Crime Intelligence Team of the Year title

Anti-kidnapping unit’s tireless 'unseen work' earns Crime Intelligence Team of the Year title
Vincent Cruywagen
By Vincent Cruywagen
2 Feb 2023
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The tireless work of the national anti-kidnapping task team to rescue victims is shrouded in secrecy. A minor mistake or information leak could be perilous.

Two years, 134 kidnapping cases with ransom demands, 124 arrests and 81 suspects in custody.

It’s numbers like these that earned the anti-kidnapping task team the title of Crime Intelligence Team of the Year at the 8th Annual SAPS Excellence Awards in Polokwane at the weekend.

Although this work – described as “critical” by those who work with the team – is shrouded in secrecy lest negotiations break down with disastrous consequences. 

And it’s a tireless duty: just a few days after receiving the award, the team was back on the job, arresting five people, including a Zimbabwean, his wife and girlfriend, for their involvement in the kidnapping of a Midrand businessman on 18 January 2023. Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the suspects, who had demanded a ransom from the family and the victim’s business associates, were nabbed at residential properties between Pretoria and Johannesburg.

Tricky negotiations


The men and women on the team respond to frantic calls from kidnapping victims’ families at all hours, immediately leaping into action. They spend hours with them as they navigate tricky negotiations with kidnappers.

Citing the two-year arrest record, Mathe said the team “was established to prevent, combat and investigate incidents of kidnappings, especially where ransom demands were being made”.

Revealing how it operates, naming its members or showing their photos could put them in danger.

Driving home that point, Rafigue Foflonker, a Lansdowne Community Policing Forum member, told Daily Maverick on Thursday he cannot reveal any information about the task team and their operations. He has been working closely on a case with the team and the victims’ families.

“The task team deserved the award because I know how much effort they put into solving the case. The task team’s work is critical. They do an excellent job infiltrating kidnapping syndicates across the country,” he said.

“Families can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that there is a special team dedicated to rescuing one of their children’s, husbands or family members who have been kidnapped. Yes, there is corruption, but credit should be given where credit is due.”

Rising menace


In November 2021, South Africa found itself at risk of being placed on a watchlist of kidnapping of hotspots after the Moti brothers – Zia (15), Alaan (13), Zayyad (11) and Zidan (7) – were kidnapped en route to school in Polokwane on 20 October 2021.

Kidnappings are also on the rise at the borders, including with Mozambique, where they spill over into South Africa, according to Lizette Lancaster, the crime hub manager, Justice and Violence Prevention, at the Institute for Security Studies.

In one case, an 11-year-old girl was kidnapped in Johannesburg at the end of 2021, while Mozambicans are also targeted by organised syndicates.

In May 2022, the Eastern Cape Hawks investigated 14 cases of immigrants kidnapped for ransom in just a few months. The victims are usually owners of businesses such as hardware stores and spaza shops in small towns. In Centurion last month, a team from more than six police stations arrested an alleged kidnapping kingpin at an upmarket estate.

These incidents are perhaps compounded by the fact that, as case studies and court papers show, kidnapping isn’t carried out on the spur of the moment. It is planned, with surveillance and the gathering of vital personal and financial information.

More honours


Other SAPS members, reservists and community policing forum (CPF) members were also honoured at the awards ceremony.

Visible Policing and Operations Employee of the Year: Constable Thato Motlagomang Mothamane from the Free State. She is responsible for implementing safety programmes at 39 schools.

Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations Team of the Year: The Hawks for their efforts in arresting those allegedly responsible for the assassination of the Anti-Gang Unit’s Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear. 

Detective and Forensic Service Employee of the Year: Joint winners were Sergeant Kheshi Mabunda from Olifantsfontein Police Station in Gauteng and Sergeant Johannes Chokoe stationed at the Westernburg Police Station in Limpopo.

Community Police Forum of the Year: Bethelsdorp CPF in the Eastern Cape. The good working relationship between the CPF and the victim support centre led to residents having more faith in the police.

Detective and Forensic Services Employee of the Year: Sergeant Johannes Chokoe from Limpopo’s Westenburg Police Station.

Family Violence Child Protection, Sexual Offences Investigating (FCS) Unit Team of the Year: King William’s Town FCS led by Colonel Mbalo. DM

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