Cape Town business people have been warned to take extra precautions after another person was kidnapped on Friday.
The latest victim is the daughter of the owner of the popular Decofurn chain of furniture stores.
The family has asked for privacy as they deal with the crisis while police said no details of the kidnapping can be revealed at this stage.
Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk would only say: “This office can confirm that the matter is under investigation by Organised Crime, Western Cape.
“At this stage, the investigation is at a very sensitive stage and the dissemination of any information may jeopardise the progress made thus far.
“The family has also requested that the media respect their privacy and that no release be made by the SAPS to the media which may also place the victim in harm’s way.”
United Public Safety Front regional coordinator, Imraahn Mukaddam, says Cape Town is slowly becoming the kidnapping capital of the world and likened it to Mexico.
Kidnapping is rife in the Central American nation where according to reports, a total of 625 cases of kidnapping were registered in 2021. Prior to 2020, cases remained steady at around 1300 per year.
“We are also concerned that we might become the new Mexico, Cape Town might be the new kidnapping capital in the world, with the rate that this crime is rising,” says Mukaddam.
“These days, it’s easier to steal a person than to steal a car, at least a car has a tracker on.”
He urged business owners to include their extended family members in security measures against kidnapping.
“It is worrying that it’s a growing crime, unless more resources are allocated to curbing this.
“We would like to warn high-profile business people to bring security measures to their families.”
He adds that the higher the profile, the higher the risk of being kidnapped.
“It’s clearly no longer just the foreign nationals who are taken but also locals. They (kidnappers) are getting away with the crime.”
The latest abduction happened just four weeks after Good Hope Construction owner, Ismail Rajah, was rescued by police in Khayelitsha.
Rajah was taken outside his business in Parow Valley and held captive for 111 days, chained and tortured in a house in Robert Sobukwe Street in Khayelitsha.
Five people have been arrested.
One of them, Elijah Silinga, who claimed he was a gardener at the house, was granted bail despite Rajah pointing him out in an identity parade.
Silinga will hear on Wednesday how much he has to pay for bail and also the bail conditions.