Nearly 4 800 kidnappings in three months as Gauteng leads national surge

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JEREMY MAGGS: According to the latest figures from the South African Police Service (SAPS), nearly 4 800 kidnapping cases were reported nationally between October and December last year, with more than half occurring in Gauteng alone.

Security experts say the nature of these crimes is changing. While high-profile ransom kidnappings grab the headlines, obviously, many incidents are just simply opportunistic.

They are linked to hijackings, to armed robberies or criminals monitoring the routines of their victims during everyday activities like commuting, arriving home or collecting children from school.

So how serious is the kidnapping threat in South Africa right now? Is it getting worse? And what practical steps can we take to reduce the risk?

Someone who’s at the centre of this debate is Ruan Vermaak from CrisisOnCall, it’s a national emergency service and number. Ruan, the numbers are alarming, nearly 4 800 kidnappings in just three months. The problem is becoming a lot more serious, surely?

RUAN VERMAAK: Definitely, Jeremy. It is quite alarming, the number that you’ve just mentioned for kidnappings, it’s actually a worry because it is something that is not getting better at this moment.

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So especially for business owners, young professionals, parents, students, individuals travelling alone, ladies travelling from shopping centres to home, picking up their kids at school, people who are high profile in South Africa – they all are massive victims when it comes to kidnappings.

JEREMY MAGGS: In the past, as I mentioned, at the start of this conversation, we would associate kidnapping with high-profile ransom cases. But you’re also telling me now that’s not the reality. have you got a sense of what type of kidnappings are most common these days?

RUAN VERMAAK: Well, these days, obviously high-ransom kidnapping is still a factor. There are still people who are being watched for the financial gain of it.

Then obviously there are children who are being kidnapped, as well as women especially, they are a big target in South Africa. They will kidnap them when they stop at a boom gate or at a security complex or even at the shopping centre, especially while they are packing groceries into the back of the vehicle.

Then when the (woman) walks around the vehicle, there will be someone else sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle – there were a few cases like this that were reported at various shopping centres in Gauteng – and then the children are also in the car, and the next moment they will just throw you in the vehicle and they will just drive off.

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After that, they tend to be in contact with the family and ask them for ransom money or whatever the case may be, whatever they are looking for.

In some of the cases they will drop the people off and they will just take the vehicle and go. In other cases, they will keep the people, and they will basically hold them for ransom.

JEREMY MAGGS: I guess given the density of population and the economy, we shouldn’t be surprised that Gauteng accounts for more than half of those cases.

RUAN VERMAAK: One hundred percent. Gauteng is basically the hub of a lot of privately-owned businesses, as well as state-owned businesses, and the reason for that is obviously there’s a much bigger financial interest in Gauteng, as we know.

That is why I think a lot of people and specific vehicles are being targeted, the names of which I obviously can’t mention.

JEREMY MAGGS: Ruan, you mentioned, though, that criminals monitor routines before striking. Let’s flip the debate, if we can. Are there specific warning signs that you or I should be looking out for?

RUAN VERMAAK: Definitely. If you see a vehicle that is parked outside of your residential area or office and it’s the same vehicle day in and day out, or someone who asks you weird questions, like private questions, financial questions, or social media trends where you get followed by people who you don’t know.

So a lot of people, they just accept people on social media platforms, they don’t know these people, and then they start to gather information.

It’s very important to be on the lookout and if you see something specific or something suspicious rather report it.

Make sure that you always drive near security cameras or something like that, don’t just stop on a road, then you will be safer.

JEREMY MAGGS: The point that you make about people unknowingly sharing information on social media is particularly relevant right now. But the reality is we still continue to do it, don’t we?

RUAN VERMAAK: Definitely, and there are so many unknown phone numbers that also phone you, and then they start asking you questions.

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Some of the people tend to give them this information, and that is also part of the information that they can gather to actually plan a kidnapping, or give it to someone else who plans a kidnapping. So yeah, it is quite alarming.

JEREMY MAGGS: Are we seeing an increase in the amount of money that criminals want for ransom, do you think?

RUAN VERMAAK: Definitely. These days they don’t take you for just R5 000. They know if you are a business owner, they know exactly how much money you make. That’s why they do their research to make sure that they will take you for that. They see you drive a nice vehicle and now they want to kidnap you.

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They actually do their research and make sure that this is the right person, or the business owner or a director of a company or a senior manager of a business or, (the person has) trust money or whatever the case may be.

This is the way they make sure to get their people.

JEREMY MAGGS: Just a final question, and I absolutely understand that every single case is different, but what’s the prevailing conventional wisdom here, should the ransom be paid?

RUAN VERMAAK: No, definitely not. There are companies that specialise in this, that is also a partner with us in our #WithCheryWithLove community campaign that we do, and this specific partner, (6:52 ….. ), they actually deal with these negotiations, and they help, when you, as a family, actually are involved in a situation like this, you can reach out to them.

That’s what they are specialists in, to negotiate and to get the right things out. I won’t always say just pay the ransom money because it can lead to extra harm.

JEREMY MAGGS: Ruan Vermaak, thank you very much indeed, from the organisation CrisisOnCall.