Cape Town – A 3-year-old girl was reunited with her family safe and unharmed after a kidnap-for-ransom money drop was foiled near the Eastgate Mall in Johannesburg on Monday night.
In a statement, police said that the girl was kidnapped on Thursday last week at a school in Springs by a woman who pretended to be her child minder.
Following her kidnapping, her alleged kidnappers had demanded millions of rands for her safe return.
“At about 20:00 on Monday evening, the Task Team led a multidisciplinary team comprising of various disciplines in the SAPS including the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) Gauteng Traffic Police, Netcare 911 and various security companies to an area near East Gate Mall where ransom money was meant to have been paid to secure the safe return of the little girl.
“As soon as the suspects arrived to collect the ransom money, the team swooped in on the four suspects and rescued the little girl,” said police spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe.
At the scene, police seized two unlicensed firearms as well as two vehicles.
The National Commissioner of the SAPS, General Fannie Masemola commended the team for their hard work and dedication.
“Well done to the team who have ensured the safe return of the little girl, well and alive. The team’s sleepless nights have definitely paid off. We also thank our stakeholders for playing their part in ensuring that together we close in on these suspects and apprehend those who are behind this crime. This should definitely serve as a deterrent to others who are involved in such criminality. We are surely closing in on these syndicates, their days are indeed numbered”, said Masemola.
Police urged parents to provide full names and details of the next of kin or guardians of their children at schools to ensure strangers did not have easy access to their children.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
