A Portuguese shopkeeper was kidnapped today on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa, sources from the Portuguese community in the African country told Lusa.
The kidnapping took place in the West Rand region, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic capital, according to an urgent alert issued at 09:00 (08:00 in Lisbon) on the Whatsapp social network of Portuguese associations in South Africa.
The alert, which published a photo of the victim, said that the Portuguese businessman, who owns a butcher’s shop, had been kidnapped at his place of work by two pickup trucks.
Earlier, via SMS, the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Portuguese Forum South Africa announced that it was investigating “two new kidnappings and a murder case”, without giving any details.
Contacted by Lusa, the Portuguese-South African NGO, as well as the national command of the South African Police Service (SAPS), have not responded to a request for clarification on the incident so far.
The Portuguese government has already heard about the case and a source in the Foreign Minister’s office told Lusa that Paulo Rangel is trying to obtain more information.
The same source said that the family had not requested any information or reported the incident to the Portuguese consulate general in Johannesburg.
South Africa is facing an increase in the crime of kidnapping, in which large sums of money are demanded for the victims’ ransom, according to the South African police.
Official figures consulted by Lusa indicate that in the last quarter of 2023 the South African police recorded 4,577 kidnappings in the country, an increase of 11% (453 more cases) compared to 4,124 cases reported to the security forces in the same period of the previous year.
According to the South African police, the provinces most affected by kidnapping are Gauteng (51.7%), home to Johannesburg and Pretoria, the country’s capital; and KwaZulu-Natal (1.4%), which borders Mozambique and is home to the port city of Durban.
According to South African government figures, there are around 200,000 Portuguese citizens and close to half a million Lusodescendants living in South Africa.
