Kidnapping crisis: Police Minister Bheki Cele must establish an extortion and kidnapping task force for Cape Town

15 September 2022

The alarming rise in the number of kidnapping cases in Cape Town, and across South Africa, requires urgent action from the SAPS top management.  I am calling on the national police management and Police Minister to immediately establish a multi-disciplinary operational task team focused on tackling kidnapping and extortion activities in Cape Town.

It was reported earlier this year that in 2017, out of 65 countries (where statistics are available), South Africa already ranked third-highest with a rate of 9,6 kidnappings per 100 000 people. In 2021/22, this figure has now jumped to 11 per 100 000 people.

I note that the National Police Ministry and SAPS top management are holding a media briefing about their investigations into kidnapping and extortion today.

While I am sure everyone is eager to hear about any progress on existing cases, I want to emphasise the need for immediate action from the SAPS to tackle this crisis going forward. We cannot allow a small handful of criminal syndicates to get away with these crimes in our city.

To effectively eradicate kidnapping and extortion in the City, we urgently need a fully-fledged extortion and kidnapping task team which should include SAPS, Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town.

Issued by Media Office, City of Cape Town, 15 September 2022