KwaThema – The police are investigating a case of kidnapping after a painter was snatched by a group of four men near the Duduza taxi rank last Thursday.
It is alleged the man (47) was standing near the Duduza taxi rank, waiting for a taxi to take him to September Street, where he had a painting job.
KwaThema Police spokesman, Capt Thabo Sibuyi, says the complainant was carrying two 5l cans of paint, his cellphone and R83.
Sibuyi reports the man waved down a silver Mazda 626, thinking it was a local taxi.
When the car stopped and the door was opened for him, he saw four unknown men inside the vehicle.
Once he was inside the vehicle, the driver took off and allegedly went in a different direction to the one the complainant wanted the driver to go.
“The complainant says he was forced to bend down so he could not to see where they were headed,” says Sibuyi.
After some time, the vehicle stopped in a dark place surrounded by a huge wall and the complainant reports there were no lights and no roof, saying it looked like a mine.
His cellphone and paint were taken.
After asking a number of questions about whether the painter could drive and if he had ever been arrested, he was tied up with rope.
“They left him with a woman who was also tied up with rope,” Sibuyi says.
Sibuyi says on Saturday the man was taken inside the car again and the men drove off with him, while his head remained down.
He managed to overpower the men and managed to escape after realising that he was in a familiar place in Springs.
He went to the Springs Police Station to seek help.
“A case of kidnapping is being investigated. However, the motive for the kidnapping is not yet known,” he says.
