A 39-year-old woman Philani X* has described how she was lured to a B&B guest-house outside Welkom in the Free State on May 19.
Here she was kidnapped only to be rescued by a team of police patrolling in Katlehong in the early hours of the morning.
Not knowing where she was being taken to by her abductors as she sat on the back seat of her car with a loaded gun pressed into her ribs, the woman told Kathorus MAIL that she considers herself lucky to have survived what she said was a “terrifying experience”.
She never thought she would survive the ordeal. However, she was miraculously rescued by a team of crack anti-crime detectives in the early hours of the morning Katlehong.
Speaking in anonymity during a telephone interview from an unidentified venue in Gauteng, the middle-aged businesswoman. who specialises in providing private maths and science tuition service at home, described how what she thought was a chance inquiry about her educational home service from a client in Welkom turned out to be a kidnap plot.
Her rescue took place 300km from her home.
According to Philani X, she arranged a time to meet the prospective client. According to Philani, st around 11:00 on May 19, the woman called Philani and informed her that she would be knocking off at around 17:00 and requested the two of them to meet and an address she later texted.
Philani drove to an address in Riebeeckstad, a few kilometres from the Welkom CBD and parked her vehicle outside the house. She called the woman’s number.
Several unanswered calls later, Philani said the woman finally called her back. “She apologised for not answering my calls and she invited me into the house.”
She said she felt uneasy about the place.
“That is when I decided to text my sister and informed her to call the police should I not call her again in the next 30 minutes.
“I was joined by two men in the house. It wasn’t long after that they pointed a firearm at me and my hands were tied before I was bundled into my car with one of the men sitting next to me.”
The other kidnapper drove her car. Philani suspected that her abductors were followed by another vehicle she believed was driven by the accomplices of her kidnappers from Welkom to Katlehong.
According to Captain Ndobe, the media spokesperson for the Katlehong SAPS, a team of anti-crime officers who were patrolling in the area came across a sedan that was parked on the side of the road and they stopped and approached the stationary vehicle.
“Several suspects stepped out of the vehicle and fled the scene. A woman whose hands were tied was screaming for help.”
Ndobe said the suspects were arrested and the victim was treated for shock and medical attention.
Speaking to Kathorus MAIL, Philani said her experience should serve as a warning about how easy it is to fall prey to this type of crime.
“How many young women have disappeared without trace under similar circumstances?”
She praised the police for saving her life.
* Not her real name
