At least three Portuguese-South African businessmen were kidnapped on Wednesday night in the South African province of Gauteng, the leader of the community organization Portuguese Forum of South Africa informed Lusa this Thursday.
“We received the information this morning,” explained Manny Ferreirinha, director of the Portuguese-South African non-governmental organization (NGO), which gave the alert via SMS this afternoon.
“There is little information, families are usually very afraid to speak and the teams are in contact,” said the businessman of Madeiran origin, of Portuguese descent, in statements to Lusa.
The community leader stated that the incidents are limited to Johannesburg, the economic capital, and Pretoria, the country’s capital, where the families of the victims are being accompanied by the NGO in conjunction with the South African Police (SAPS).
Contacted by Lusa, SAPS national command spokesperson Athlenda Mathe confirmed the carrying out of one of the kidnappings in Gauteng, without providing details.
Manny Ferreirinha also highlighted to Lusa that the number of Portuguese kidnapped in the last three months in South Africa now amounts to nine cases.
“There was a month in which we recorded six kidnappings,” he said, referring to last August, adding that “everyone paid a ransom” for their release, without giving details.
Lusa also attempted to obtain more information from Portuguese consular authorities in the country, but Portugal’s consul general in Johannesburg, Graça Freitas, has not yet responded to an emailed request for clarification.
This afternoon, the Portuguese Forum called on the more than 300,000 Portuguese residents in the African country to “be alert”, in an SMS message, also disseminated through the social network WhatsApp.
“There were three kidnappings last night and one attempt on Friday. Please be alert,” the Portuguese-South African organization stated in the message to the local Portuguese community.
Source: TSF
