EXCLUSIVE | Portuguese butchery owners targeted in Gauteng kidnappings

JOHANNESBURG - Eyewitness News can reveal that at least 20 Portuguese butchery owners and staff were kidnapped in the province since January last year - with one victim murdered. 
 
Last week, within the space of 72 hours, three butchery owners were kidnapped. 
 
Just one of the three victims has been found or released. 
 
In most cases, ransom demands for the safe release of the victims range from R400,000 to R3.5 million, while in at least nine of these cases, ransom demands started from R10 million. 
 
While it may or may not be a coincidence, all the victims are originally from the region of Madeira in Portugal - some being third or fourth generation South Africans.

RUMOURED MOZAMBICAN LINKS
 
In some instances, the kidnappers request for negotiations to be conducted in Portuguese - leading authorities to believe the perpetrators have Mozambican links. 
 
Kidnapping criminal enterprises in Mozambique have spilled over into South Africa in recent years. 
 
According to sources, there are also a handful of known kidnapping kingpins with links to the Mozambican underworld living in plush Gauteng suburbs.  
 
Last Monday, a Portuguese South African butchery owner was kidnapped outside his business premises in Roodepoort on the West Rand. 
 
According to an eyewitness, the incident occurred shortly after 6am, and took about 40 seconds for perpetrators to nab the victim. 
 
About eight suspects approached the business premises in two vehicles. Several armed men got out of the vehicles, approaching a security guard stationed near the victim's vehicle and ordered him to the ground. 
 
The victim, seated inside his parked vehicle at the time, was ushered out and forced into one of the suspects' cars before they fled the scene. 

He was rescued from a house in Snake Park, Soweto, on Monday night. One 39-year-old suspect was arrested after a joint operation involving the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department and private security. More arrests are expected.

Last Tuesday, an Ethiopian national who recently acquired a butchery in Johannesburg from a Portuguese businessman, who sold it to him out of fear of being kidnapped, was kidnapped in Joburg's CBD. 
 
On Thursday night, another Portuguese butchery owner was kidnapped in Southdale, south of Johannesburg. 
 
Negotiations in all two of the three cases are ongoing and only one victim has been released. 
 
On Friday morning, a Portuguese store manager, of a butchery situated in the CBD, was shot twice while on his way to work, in what is believed to have been an attempted kidnapping. 
 
Eyewitness News has chosen not to reveal the identities of the victims due to the sensitivity of the cases.
 
But while the provincial organised crime investigations’ anti-kidnapping task team is working around the clock to ensure their safe release of those kidnapped, sources say they are fighting a losing battle due to a lack of capacity, resources and support from national police. 

DIRTY COPS AND COPYCATS
 
The involvement of police officials in kidnapping cases has also raised concerns. 
 
Adolph Mnisi, a constable from Bramley police station, was arrested together with six others, facing charges of kidnapping, extortion, attempted murder, and robbery with aggravating circumstances, after a Portuguese butchery owner was kidnapped and rescued in October in Sandringham, east of Johannesburg. 
 
SAPS spokesperson colonel Brenda Muridili confirmed Mnisi was suspended on June 14, given the charges levelled against him.
 
He is out on R5,000 bail together with five of his co-accused - Thato Mosime, Verlijio Hlungwani, Sandile Mthethwa, Qiniso Motha, Pride Khupe - while accused one, Andile Ellias Mthombeni, remains in custody. 
 
The recent modus operandi of targeting Portuguese butchery owners has also sparked concerns among the Portuguese community in South Africa. 
 
Spokesperson for the Portuguese Forum of SA, Roberto Silva, said the recent kidnappings of Portuguese South Africans is viewed “as an attack on the core of their family unit community”. 
 
“We trust that the South African authorities, with the aid of the various stakeholders, will be able to bring those responsible to task and restore safety and the rule of law. There are other matters besides kidnappings which are of extreme concern, such as construction mafias, extortion, and intimidation of various groups, to which we are paying close attention. All our efforts are in collaboration with SAPS.”
 
But it’s not only the wealthy who are being targeted. 
 
Copycat kidnapping syndicates continue to flourish in Gauteng communities, often preying on the poor, demanding ransoms of anything between R3,000 to R20,000. 
 
And it doesn’t always end well, even if ransoms are paid by the families. 
 
In May 2021, two siblings aged 28 and 29 were kidnapped and killed in Kagiso, despite the family complying and paying the R10,000 ransom demand. 
 
The bodies of the brother and sister were found thrown into a river, both having sustained gunshot wounds to their heads. 
 
The father of the children, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said nothing had ever come of the case. 
 
“We have all been for therapy, especially my wife. She even went in for depression; she is still not all right, even to this day. On the birthdays of the kids, she is crying the entire night. Every time I speak about this, I have nightmares.” 

DAMNING STATS

Between October and December 2023, Gauteng recorded a 20% increase in kidnappings - recording 2,367 cases, which accounts for more than half the kidnappings in the country during this period (4,577). 
 
The province also accounts for 23 of the top 30 stations countrywide for the greatest number of kidnappings recorded during last year. 

During the release of the third quarterly 2023/2024 crime stats, former police minister Bheki Cele said kidnapping syndicates had become a profitable enterprise.
 
“Kidnapping for ransom has become a lucrative commodity for organised crime in South Africa. The SAPS continues in its efforts to identify and arrest groupings linked to kidnappings, especially where ransom demands are being made. More than 300 suspects linked to these kidnappings have been arrested in the last two years.” 
 
A meeting between representatives of the Portuguese community living in South Africa will take place on Wednesday, where the issue of kidnappings will be discussed. 
 
Eyewitness News understands the Portuguese embassy in South Africa is also paying close attention to the recent spike in kidnappings.