FIVE ARRESTED AFTER CAPE TOWN DRIVER ALLEGEDLY KIDNAPPED AND SEXUALLY ASSAULTED

South African police have arrested five people, including two women, following the alleged kidnapping and sexual assault of a 25-year-old e-hailing driver in Cape Town. The suspects reportedly held the driver against his will and demanded money from his family before police intervened and rescued him.

According to the South African Police Service, the incident occurred after the driver went to meet one of the female suspects, whom he had reportedly met through his e-hailing business the previous week. The pair exchanged contact details and communicated for several days before arranging to meet, but police said the meeting turned into a kidnapping.

The victim’s brother reportedly alerted the police after the suspects contacted him and demanded R4,000 for his release. Officers from Steenberg Police Station were able to trace the victim through the tracking device installed in his vehicle, eventually locating him at Southampton Road in Heathfield, where he was rescued.

Police said the suspects allegedly sexually assaulted the driver while he was being held captive. The arrested suspects comprise two women, aged 23 and 34, and three men aged 16, 42 and 48. Their identities have not been released by the authorities.

The five suspects are expected to appear before the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Monday, September 14. The investigation is continuing as police work to establish the full circumstances surrounding the alleged kidnapping, ransom demand and sexual assault.