Bound and gagged for 10 awful hours

Yzelle Greyling (51) spent some 10 hours bound and gagged in the boot of a car last Friday after being abducted at gunpoint in Umzumbe.

Ms Greyling, well-known among the golfing fraternity and an avid bee keeper, had her eyes and mouth taped shut throughout the ordeal, before being found unharmed in Sunwich Port later that day.

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When news of the kidnapping broke, South Coasters sprang into action.

Social media posts were shared and shared again, flooding Facebook with requests for information and eliciting messages of support for the distraught family.

Suspected kidnappers Andre Breedt (34) and Alistair Grobbelaar (47) of Manaba and Lindani Raymond Mnguni (28) of Hibberdene were arrested within 48 hours.

This was thanks to an intensive and swift investigation conducted by Port Shepstone Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Crime Intelligence, K9 Search and Rescue Unit, Cluster Operational Command Centre and detectives from Southport, Hibberdene and Margate police stations.

Farm watch and local security companies, assisted by a helicopter, dogs and drones, were also involved in the search.

The suspects appeared in the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court on Monday this week.

They are facing three charges of kidnapping and a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances.

According to Magistrate Thandeka Fikeni, the latter charge was a schedule six offence which could carry a 15-year sentence.

The case was postponed to Wednesday, May 15 for bail application.

The men remain in police custody.

Speaking to the Herald, Ms Greyling thanked everyone for not giving up on her.

“The outcome may have been different without the thousands of people who kept on praying and who kept on believing that I would be all right. It was the power of prayer, power of people and the police which saved me,” she said.

“I’m so immensely thankful for my life and for not being harmed, and that my family and my two staffers are all right. I’m just so thankful to everyone who kept sharing posts on social media, and for keeping me in their thoughts and prayers.”

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Ms Greyling has been involved in bee keeping and removal for several years.

She found nothing unusual about last Friday’s call, having previously helped with the removal of hives in rural areas.

“She was in the company of her two workers when they met three men at Fairview Mission,” said police spokesman, Captain Petros Mpinge.

“Ms Greyling was driving as they followed the men, who were in a VW Golf.”

It is thought that when Ms Greyling stopped to offload her equipment, one of the men pulled out a firearm and threatened her.

The men removed several of her personal effects from her vehicle.

“The workers were ordered to sit down and their hands were bound with tape while Ms Greyling was forced into the boot of the vehicle at gunpoint.”

Cpt Mpinge said she was released uninjured later that day.

He confirmed that the motive for the kidnapping is unknown at his stage. 

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