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By Janine Moodley 
2h ago
Durban – Hamza Khan, a Gauteng businessman, was abducted on Friday by two men allegedly posing as policemen.
The kidnappers, dressed in white, confronted Khan, 30, in front of his family’s butcher shop in Fordsburg around 9:30 a.m.
The incident was captured by CCTV and shared on social media by Yusuf Abramjee, an anti-crime activist. Khan was taken out of his vehicle and into a waiting car.
Abramjee said the suspects were allegedly posing as police officers, a method used in other cases in which businessmen were abducted.
He said that in previous incidents in Fordsburg and Mayfair, suspects informed victims that they were under arrest. The victims did not resist.
Abramjee did not disclose whether the suspects had contacted Khan’s family for ransom.
He said that several businessmen had been kidnapped in the past two years.
“These were often carried out by international unions. They are trained and organized and demand large bailouts that generally must be deposited into a foreign bank account. “
Abramjee said he believed, however, that the recent series of incidents was caused by a copycat union.
“This appears to be a copycat union of smaller gangs that are dangerous. They are probably trying to make a quick buck.
“But these gangs seem to know who they are targeting. They prefer businessmen, specifically of Indian origin, as well as Pakistani, Ethiopian and Somali nationals. They see them possibly as easy targets. “
He said that in four recent cases, the victims were returned to their families. In two of them ransoms were paid.
An Ethiopian businessman, who was kidnapped at the end of last year, was killed.
Abramjee said that another Ethiopian businessman, who was kidnapped in January, was missing.
Last month, businessman Mohammed Azeem Amod, 45, was released a week after he was abducted from his family’s restaurant in Norwood.
“The last wave has caused a lot of fear and panic among sectors of the community. These cases should be raised to the Hawks.
“The business community must take a stand and pressure the government to take this seriously. I hope that the police can break the backbone of these small unions. “
On Monday, Solly Suleman, president of the Minara Chamber of Commerce, wrote to the Presidency to intervene.
In the letter, he described the kidnapping of businessmen, their families and children as a pandemic.
“Where is the information on the ground? … What steps are taken to prevent this disease that will get worse if not addressed now? We urge the government to take this crime seriously to prevent the kind of damage to the economy as has been the case in neighboring countries. “
Khan’s family declined to comment.
Captain Mavela Masondo, a spokeswoman for the provincial police in Gauteng, said they were given a directive not to comment on the kidnapping cases because it would endanger the lives of the victims.
“Once the victim has been found, we will issue a statement.”
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