EXPLAINER | Why Gauteng is at the centre of South Africa’s kidnapping crisis

Gauteng is at the centre of South Africa’s kidnapping crisis, accounting for more than half of reported cases.

On Friday, the provincial legislature’s portfolio committee on community safety held an engagement to examine the growing scale, causes and impact of the crime.

Between April and June 2026, Gauteng recorded 2,367 of South Africa’s 4,638 kidnapping cases, about 51% of the national total. Experts warned that the figures may underestimate the true scale, as some unlawful detention cases are recorded as GBV, assault, rape or robbery.

The engagement heard that kidnapping is no longer confined to wealthy businesspeople or high-profile ransom cases. Committee members described it as a crime affecting families and communities across the province.

In an informal settlement a child can be kidnapped for as little as R500. In suburbia, somebody can be kidnapped for R50,000—  Chad Thomas, IRS Forensic Investigations director

“Every kidnapping leaves behind a family that never stops waiting for a phone call, a parent who can’t sleep, [and] a community that no longer feels safe,” the committee said. “Behind every statistic is a name, a home, a life interrupted.”

One of the key issues discussed was kidnapping for ransom. Chad Thomas of IRS Forensic Investigations said SAPS recorded 231 ransom-related kidnapping cases during the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, a 10.5% increase compared with the previous year.

“Kidnap for ransom — it’s a small share, but it’s a high organisation,” Thomas said.

He explained that organised kidnapping syndicates traditionally targeted wealthy businesspeople, but copycat gangs are increasingly targeting victims across different income groups and communities.

“Whereas we were seeing primarily rich business people being targeted and their families, we’re now seeing in different communities different levels of kidnapping,” he said.

“In an informal settlement a child can be kidnapped for as little as R500. In suburbia, somebody can be kidnapped for R50,000.”

Thomas warned that the rise of copycat kidnappings introduces new dangers because these criminals are often less sophisticated than organised syndicates.

“These are amateurs, and of course, being amateurs, it can result in unnecessary violence. It can even result in death,” he said.

Experts highlighted the rise of “express kidnappings” as a key driver of Gauteng’s kidnapping figures. Victims are typically abducted briefly during hijackings, home invasions, e-hailing robberies or fake police stops, rather than for ransom.

In one incident this week, the body of former SABC sport presenter Owen Ndlovu was found in Thokoza, Ekurhuleni, after an alleged botched abduction and hijacking.

Thomas said victims of express kidnappings are forced to unlock their phones and banking applications while under threat of violence. Criminals then transfer money, make withdrawals, activate overdrafts or take out loans before releasing the victim.

Thomas said advances in banking security have unintentionally created new opportunities for criminals.

“It’s no longer a phone snatch. It’s now taking the person with the phone,” he said.

He added that biometric security measures such as facial recognition and fingerprint verification are increasingly being used against victims during these crimes.

“What is so frightening is that biometrics, the Face ID, the fingerprint become tools of the offence, not protections.”

Speakers also raised concerns that many kidnapping incidents may never be reflected accurately in crime statistics because of the way cases are classified.

Teboho Mashota of Lawyers Against Abuse said his organisation frequently encounters cases involving unlawful detention and sexual violence where kidnapping charges are never added.

“In Hillbrow alone, in the last 12 months, we’ve seen over 195 cases of sexual violence, and the majority of these cases involve minors,” Mashota said.

She said the organisation is currently assisting two minors who were allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted, yet kidnapping charges were not included in the cases.

“It then looks like the stats are not correctly recorded,” she said.

Gender-based violence (GBV) was a key concern, with experts noting that kidnapping is not always linked to ransom demands. It can also occur in domestic settings where partners are unlawfully confined or prevented from leaving.

Mashota said victims often become frustrated when what they believe are kidnapping elements are not reflected in criminal charges.

“Maybe SAPS can make us understand why this is the case,” she said.

Security stategist Andy Mashaile stressed that kidnapping is part of a wider criminal network involving recruiters, informants, abductors, safe-house operators, financiers, negotiators and corrupt facilitators.

Mashaile argued that law enforcement must focus on dismantling criminal networks rather than concentrating only on individual incidents.

“We must investigate the network, not merely the incident,” he said.

He called for stronger intelligence capabilities that can identify suspicious surveillance, unusual vehicle movements, compromised personal information and criminal financial activity before kidnappings occur.

“The strategic value of intelligence is therefore in early warning, threat identification, vulnerability assessment and preventive intervention,” he said.

The message emerging from the engagement was that kidnapping is no longer a single crime category. It overlaps with organised crime, hijacking, financial exploitation, human trafficking and GBV.