Dundee SAPS denies kidnapping case was opened – family says otherwise

Confusion reigns over the alleged kidnapping of two teenage sisters.

A charge of kidnapping was reportedly laid at Dundee Police Station, after 19-year-old Mrati Khoza and 18-year-old Mpile Khoza were bundled into a bakkie in central Dundee on May 2, and driven towards Pomeroy.

However, the Dundee SAPS maintains no such case was opened.

Captain V. Mbense, spokesman for the Dundee police, told the Courier ‘nothing of that nature has been registered on the system’.

Robert Govender, for whom Juliet works, insists police were informed of the kidnapping after it occurred.

“After looking for the girls, we drove to the police station to tell them of the abduction, but they [the police] did not pay much attention to us after we told them that we do not have the vehicle registration plate, or a description of their kidnappers.”

According to the family, the girls’ traumatic experience began at around midday, on Victoria Street near the Princess Magogo building.

Juliet had asked them to buy groceries after school.

The girls were on their way home when they were approached by an elderly African woman, who the girls did not know, to assist her in carrying a heavy box to her bakkie.

Out of the respect, Mrati and Mpile agreed to help.

However, once the sisters got the box inside, the woman pushed the girls into the bakkie’s load bin and locked the canopy door.

The girls still had their phones on them and called Bheki in a state of panic.

Horrified, Bheki contacted Robert to assist, and a frantic search was undertaken for the teenagers.

“We patrolled. The girls said they passed Orange Grove Dairy in the bakkie, so we went to that area and asked around if anyone had seen [the vehicle], but we had no luck. That’s when we went to the police.”

A while later, Bheki received a call from his daughters from an unknown number.

“They were at the taxi rank in Pomeroy. They managed to jump out of the bakkie and ask for assistance. A woman let them use her phone to call their father, after which they were taken to the Pomeroy Police Station. By this stage, the kidnappers had taken their cellphones, cash and groceries they had with them.”

The girls were then transported back to Dundee, for an emotional reunion with their family.

The Khozas say Mrati and Mpile are still traumatised, and at this stage unclear what the kidnappers’ intentions were.

“I am still in shock that my girls were kidnapped. I thank God they were able to escape,” said a relieved Bheki.  The family maintains they will continue taking up the kidnapping incident with the police – here or at Provincial level if necessary.

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