UDM's Nqabayomzi Kwankwa was abducted from favourite barber shop

19 June 2024 - 11:38 By Kim Swartz
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UDM deputy leader Nqabayomzi Kwankwa with party leader Bantu Holomisa. File image
UDM deputy leader Nqabayomzi Kwankwa with party leader Bantu Holomisa. File image
Image: Supplied

UDM deputy leader Nqabayomzi Kwankwa is not attending the presidential inauguration in Pretoria on Wednesday as he needs to recuperate after he was hijacked and kidnapped on Tuesday afternoon.

Police spokesperson Brig Novela Potelwa said: “The Western Cape anti-kidnapping multidisciplinary task team, comprising organised crime and DPCI [Hawks] investigators as well as crime intelligence, is piecing together details after an incident where a 44-year-old man was allegedly hijacked, kidnapped and robbed by armed suspects in Driftsands, Mfuleni, on Tuesday afternoon.”

The UDM said they paid R10,000 to secure his release after an extortion demand. Kwankwa was dropped off in Lingelethu West, Khayelitsha, where he made his way to a police station to report the incident. His vehicle was later recovered in the area. 

The party’s secretary-general Yongama Zigebe told TimesLIVE on Wednesday as Kwankwa was making his way to the Cape Town International Airport to fly to Gauteng, he made a detour to his usual barber shop in Khayelitsha Site B.

“The initial point where he was kidnapped was at the barber shop, where they put him in a boot [and] tied his hands and legs with rope. The extortion happened in Driftsands,” he said.

Khayelitsha is known for being a dangerous area, he said, and Kwankwa was targeted due to being a high-profile person, but whether the kidnapping was a crime of chance or pre-planned is unknown.

“Despite that he knows the area and has been there during his days as a security guard before becoming an MP, he is traumatised.

“He will not attend the presidential inauguration as he is with his family and needs to recuperate,” said Zigebe.

The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have yet been made.

TimesLIVE


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