NELSPRUIT - Three victims, a woman (45), her 18-month-old girl and the nanny (31) survived to tell their fate after an ordeal of being snatched out of the house then kidnapped and robbed of their personal belongings by suspects at Schoemansdal in Nkomazi.

It is said that on 19 July 2022 at about 19:30, three armed male suspects wearing balaclavas and face masks stormed into a certain house at Buffelspruit (Schoemansdal area) and then held their victims at gunpoint and demanded cash, mobile phones, bank cards as well as car keys. It is further indicated by the victims that they were forced into a gold Toyota Run-X which belongs to house owner. They were then driven away into the bush at Hectorspruit near Komatipoort.

Upon intruding, the suspects allegedly instructed the house owner to logon into a bank app on her mobile phone. Subsequently a transaction of undisclosed amount of cash was made. One of the suspects is said to have then went to Malelane and cash out the money whilst the three victims remained in the bush with the other two suspects.

On the following day, around 03:00, they (victims) were instructed by their assailants to walk away and never look back. The victims were then given a lift by a Good Samaritan and subsequently reached home. They then reported the incident to the police at Schoemansdal whereby a case of kidnapping with an additional charge of robbery was opened.

So far no one has been arrested and police urge anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of the suspects to call the Crime Stop number at 08600 10111 or send information via MySAPSApp. All received information will be treated as confidential and callers may opt to remain anonymous.

Meanwhile the Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has strongly condemned the incident and raised her worry regarding such cases which were recently reported in the province, including the one in which a 13-year-old girl survived the ordeal in Witbank few days back. "We cannot allow a situation engineered by criminals which will force citizens to live in fear inside their own houses. We believe that there is someone who knows or saw something somewhere. The public must come on board so that we can put an end to this trend before another victim is kidnapped. It is fortunate that all victims somehow returned home safely. Who knows what might happen to the next victim. So it is paramount that members of the public who knows the whereabouts of these criminals to immediately report them to the authorities" said the General.

Source: South African Police Service