Cape Town - A high-speed chase ended in the arrest of five suspects who have been charged with the attempted kidnapping of a Chinese businesswoman.
The five from Gugulethu and Khayelitsha appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court yesterday, where the matter was postponed to October 6 for a bail application.
The five face charges of attempted kidnapping, possession of a stolen vehicle and of a firearm and ammunition following their arrest on Saturday.
The State said: “On September 10 at 4pm, the victim, who is a business owner, closed the store at China Town shopping centre in Ottery and noticed the accused in a Chevrolet looking at her through their window.
“She got into her vehicle. One of the accused came to her vehicle and then went back to the Chevrolet.
“She drove and parked the car behind the shop and alerted security. A car chase ensued at the time – security drove behind the victim.
“The victim then drove on the M5, she jumped a red robot and the accused followed. She spotted a police vehicle, stopped the vehicle and informed them of what was taking place.
“The police then gave chase after the accused and caught up with them.”
Police spokesperson Novela Potelwa said the accused were taken into custody following the discovery of an illegal firearm.
“In their vehicle, they discovered a prohibited firearm whose serial number had been filed off and rounds of ammunition.
“Upon further searching the vehicle, Lansdowne police also found vehicle licence plates that did not match the disc displayed on the vehicle,” Potelwa said.
The suspects, who cannot be named at this stage, as per a ruling made by magistrate Imran Rohde, informed the court through their lawyers that they intend to apply for bail, which the State will oppose.
Meanwhile, China Town business owners are “anxious” about their safety.
China Town Ottery centre manager Yi Zhang said: “Safety is always a lot of people’s main concerns but for the tenants, their main concern is robbery, hijacking and most recently kidnapping.
“Other than them doing business they always have to look over their shoulders, to make sure they’re safe. A lot of the victims are either the relatives or friends, people they know, that is why they are quite anxious.”
He said business owners at China Town have become “despondent” as a result of suspects being released.
“When they’re caught, most of the time they’re just being released after a week or a month but they come back to the street,” Zhang said.
He added: “I don’t want to bring this thing into a racial point of view, this is the general public. People who are having shops or people who travel on their regular routes could all be potential targets.
“I want to call on the people who have the power to look at the legal system and bring in a more heavy punishment for this kind of a crime.”
Potelwa said: “As part of ongoing investigations into this case and other similar cases, organised crime detectives are hard at work trying to determine if the arrested suspects can be linked to other crimes.”
On Friday, Khalied Parker, the son of Lansdowne business owner Seraaj Parker, was killed on Imam Haron Road in a suspected kidnapping. Police say that no arrests have yet been made.
Another victim and business owner, Bangladeshi Akhter Pradhan, was released at the weekend after his family reportedly paid a ransom.