Rising kidnappings in Limpopo: Hitchhikers cautioned by CPF

POLOKWANE – Kidnapping cases are increasingly emerging in the Capricorn district, with the Polokwane Community Policing Forum (CPF) warning that hitchhiking is a key driver behind the trend.

Recent crime statistics released on Thursday by provincial police commissioner Lt Gen Thembi Hadebe, show that 74 kidnapping cases were reported between January and March in both 2024 and 2025.

Capricorn accounts for 22% of the provincial total, second only to Sekhukhune’s 23.8%.

The report highlighted that in four of the cases, kidnappers demanded ransom – two from incidents reported at Mankweng police station, with the remaining two in Bela-Bela and Burgersfort. Five additional cases involved victims being extorted through threats and violence, particularly in areas near Polokwane, including Mankweng, Westenburg, Dennilton and Tzaneen.

CPF Chairperson Rudolph Phaswana said their data indicates that victims are mostly not abducted from their homes but while hitchhiking. They are picked up at known hitchhiking spots and later diverted to remote areas where they are robbed or threatened.

“I call it robbery-kidnapping,” he said.

“Victims are willingly picked up and then attacked en route. After being robbed or extorted, they are abandoned and left to find help.”

Phaswana added that although police campaigns have tried to deter hitchhiking, success has been limited. “Law enforcement can only do so much. As long as people willingly get into strangers’ vehicles, they expose themselves to these risks.”

He acknowledged that targeted kidnappings, which are often linked to human trafficking, are rare in the district, with only two such cases reported during the same period in Polokwane.

The local taxi industry has long discouraged hitchhiking, citing both safety concerns and loss of income.

However, some residents continue to hitchhike, citing unaffordable public transport costs.

While some admitted the risk is too great, others said they had hitchhiked for years without incident and were sticking to this habit.

Notably, many of the province’s highest kidnapping rates are concentrated around popular hitchhiking spots in the Polokwane central business district.

The top 15 affected stations include Mankweng, Seshego, Lebowakgomo, Thohoyandou, Polokwane, Tzaneen, Giyani, Dennilton, Letsitele, Mokopane, Makhado, Jane Furse, Namakgale, Waterval and Burgersfort.

Hadebe has urged the public to avoid hitchhiking and called for increased law enforcement visibility, including random vehicle searches, to deter perpetrators and safeguard communities.