Kempton Park records 76 kidnappings in three months, highest in Gauteng

Kempton Park recorded 76 kidnapping cases between April and June 2026, the highest of any precinct in Gauteng for the quarter and an increase of 58,3% on the 48 cases recorded there in the same three months of 2025.

The figure was put before a stakeholder engagement convened by the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Community Safety on Friday, 18 September 2026, to examine the scale, the causes and the impact of kidnapping in the province. The Citizen reported the committee’s findings.

The provincial picture is larger. Gauteng recorded 2 367 kidnapping cases in the quarter, which is more than half of the 4 638 cases recorded nationally over the same period.

“The scale of these figures places Gauteng at the centre of South Africa’s kidnapping crisis,” the committee said.

What the cases look like

Kidnapping in the province is not one crime. The committee described hijacking-related cases, in which a victim is unlawfully restrained or taken during a vehicle hijacking, alongside a growing number of abductions carried out for ransom.

Two ransom demands in the period illustrate the sums involved. Kidnappers in Bekkersdal demanded R5 million, and a R3 million ransom was demanded in a Roodepoort case.

“These figures should serve as a wake-up call to every law enforcement agency and every level of government,” the committee said. “Kidnapping cannot be treated as an isolated crime when its tentacles extend into hijacking, organised crime, ransom demands and the targeting of vulnerable people.”

The Kempton Park context

Kempton Park has been the subject of sustained public anger and fear. On Saturday, 12 September, the South African Police Service warned women in and around the area, particularly Rhodesfield, to exercise extreme caution after the bodies of several women were found in the same vicinity over a period of roughly two months.

Residents and non-governmental organisations have picketed in the area. The committee said the kidnapping figures are especially troubling given those discoveries, and it was careful to separate the two matters: the investigations into the deaths are ongoing, and no finding has been made linking them to the kidnapping cases.

What the committee wants

The committee has called for kidnapping to be given the highest level of attention in Gauteng. Its list is specific: stronger intelligence gathering, better coordination between law enforcement agencies, targeted operations in identified hotspots, and closer engagement with the communities where the cases are concentrated.

It has also asked residents to report suspicious activity and pass on information that could assist investigations.

“Communities must be protected, criminal networks must be disrupted, and those responsible must face the full might of the law,” the committee said.

What it means for residents

The consequence for people living in Kempton Park and the wider Ekurhuleni area is a change in daily routine. The police warning of 12 September asked women in and around Rhodesfield to take extreme care. A precinct that records 76 kidnappings in a single quarter, and a province that carries more than half the country’s cases, is a place where the trip home, the school run and the drive after dark are all weighed differently.

Kidnapping is a Schedule 1 offence in South African law. It carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment where the court finds aggravating circumstances, and it is prosecuted under the common law. The authority to investigate it, to arrest a suspect and to bring a case to court rests with the South African Police Service and the National Prosecuting Authority, and with no one else. No group, movement or individual may take the enforcement of the law into its own hands.

The committee’s engagement on 18 September produced a set of demands rather than a set of dates. Its call is for a coordinated response across the agencies that hold the intelligence, the dockets and the operational capacity in Gauteng.

Source: The Citizen, Kempton Park records highest number of kidnapping cases in Gauteng