Kidnapped KZN businesswoman found alive

Police have confirmed to TimesLIVE that Sandra Moonsamy, the Durban businesswoman who has been missing since May this year, was found alive by Mamelodi police on Thursday evening.

It is further reported that four men have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping.

Forty-year-old Moonsamy was kidnapped in Pinetown on May 30, and her black Range Rover was found with two bullet holes and a smashed left passenger window later that day, along with her handbag and cellphone.

At the time, Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) said that according to a witness, several men in a silver VW Golf, a white hatchback BMW and a bakkie forced her off the road.

“They then fired shots at the driver’s window when she locked herself in. Other suspects damaged the left window with the butt of a firearm and forced her out. She was then pushed into a vehicle and driven away.”

In July, 35-year-old Jerry Ogbuwany Gike was arrested in connection with the kidnapping, after he was allegedly found in possession of Moonsamy’s cellphone.

Gike’s immigration status in South Africa was questioned, as he had allegedly been using a life partner permit that was issued to him in 2011.

The State opposed bail, saying that the accused has no legal status in South Africa. Although Gike’s lawyer Abdul Shaikjee had presented a document saying that he had applied for legal status in the country, the head of immigration had to be consulted before a proper determination for bail was made, explained Kuveshnie Pillay, a lawyer for the State.

Moonsamy is the financial head of her family business Crossmoor Transport, and daughter of transport logistics moguls Lutchmee and Poonsamy Naicker.

Her kidnappers were said to have demanded a multimillion-rand ransom in exchange for her safe return.

Updates to follow as more information is made available.

Additional reporting by News24 Wire

(Compiled by Nica Schreuder)

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