A kidnapped businessman was kept in “inhumane and horrendous” conditions during his four months of captivity, a family spokesperson has claimed.
Yusuf Abramjee was speaking at national press club briefing in Arcadia on Thursday, on the spate of kidnappings in the country.
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The anti-crime activist said Pretoria businessman Omar Carrim (76), who was freed recently, told the family the conditions he was held in were inhumane and horrendous.
Carrim (76) was held captive for 137 days from his kidnap in August and reunited with his family in December after help from the SAPS and Interpol.
Abramjee said Carrim was in such poor shape he had to be admitted to hospital following his release.
“He (Carrim) was immediately rushed to hospital and is still recovering,” said Abramjee.
“He was handcuffed and shackled in a dark room for that period without even knowing what day it was.”
Asked if the family had paid the ransom, Abramjee said: “I suspect they did, but those are details they wouldn’t communicate with me.”
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Dr Chris de Kock, former police commissioner and independent crime analyst, said whether families should pay to secure the release of a loved-one of not was a difficult question to answer.
“There’s no definitive answer to that question because circumstances varies, but the first thing to do in a case of your loved one being kidnapped, is to report it to the police and refrain from spreading that on social media.”
Abramjee said it was a bad idea to share information on social media because the kidnappers most often would track social media posts by their victim’s relatives.
De Kock said the rate of kidnappings in the country was too high though it wasn’t sufficiently reflected in crime stats.
“South Africa was ranked 8th in the world.”
He said it was a concern that crime stats did not highlight the category of kidnapping broadly in 2016/2017 stats.
Abramjee said last year, he was involved in 15 kidnapping cases and kidnapping was becoming a lucrative business.
“From three of the high profile cases I worked on, I learnt that around R50 million was paid in ransom.
He said there was concern ransom funds were used to support terror groups.
“We are still not clear who are heading these syndicates but there are discussions around whether terrorist organisations are involved.”
Interpol ambassador Andy Mashaile said kidnappings were linked to human trafficking.
“International crime investigators should support local police in the fight against this growing scourge,” he said.
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