Mpumalanga – Margaret Skosana, the municipal manager of Nkangala District Municipality, and her driver, Gugu Mtsweni were kidnapped last Thursday. According to police, information circulating about the kidnappers demanding a R5 million ransom is bogus, but negotiations are at a very advanced stage.
Skosana and her driver were allegedly kidnapped at the entrance of the district’s offices in Middelburg by men impersonating police officers. Police launched an investigation soon after the kidnapping was reported. They recovered Skosana’s abandoned car, her wheelchair and other properties belonging to her and Mtsweni in one of the surrounding mines. According to Mike Bolhuis, Specialised Security Services, the kidnappers have made very strict demands.
“The main reason for kidnapping is to gain money but, in this situation, and sometimes in the other cases as well, information is required, or a change of information is wanted. In other words, they want certain things done and they want certain things not done. Therefore, they kidnap people of this municipality in order to move and to influence the municipality and in the same breath, they also want money from them.”
The situation with this kidnapping
Bolhuis could not confirm or deny if there was a ransom demand made and if so, for how much. He believes sharing that information at this time can “hamper the investigation”. However, he did confirm the police and himself are at the final stage and things should be resolved soon.
“What I do want to say is we are at the final stage working with the police and I do want to compliment the police. They are doing their best … We are not the police. We are supporting the police … The situation presently in this case is we are doing everything in our way to get these two ladies back. We are very close to the end. It will come to the end and once that is done we will have factual information that we can state about what has happened all along.”
Bolhuis is confident the women will be found alive and unharmed. The main aim for the kidnappers is to get certain things done. To him, the kidnappers know the value of the women.
“If the ladies are, sorry to say, killed then they have advantage and no leverage. I am up to this point quite certain [these women are still alive and unharmed].”
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The reason kidnappers resort to violence
Most cases of kidnappings end with the victim returning safely back to their families. There are some cases where, unfortunately, the victim is killed. In these cases, the victim might be able to identify the kidnappers or know too much.
“They [kidnappers] will extort money from a family but they will also kill the person involved because the person involved, or persons involved might have information that can identify them or is known to them and they’re not 100% sure that these people that they have kidnapped would not divulge or come forward and assist the police. A killing usually happens when there is a fear of any form of information that can harm the kidnappers and then they would go to that extreme.”
Crime syndicates commit all sorts of crime
Most crime syndicates commit more than one crime. Most of these crimes are interlinked. Bolhuis believes crime syndicates assist each other in committing crimes such as drug, sex, human trafficking and kidnappings.
“The reason why all these crimes are being committed in South Africa is because they can, and they can get away with it. Crime begets crime. If you commit crime in an area and you can get away with it, other criminals will jump in and commit that crime and others.”
Police have asked anyone with information about the case to contact Lt Motha on 082-462-27467
