Rustenburg - A motorist who allegedly held hostage a 32-year-old woman after offering her a lift in his VW Golf has been arrested by Mpumalanga police.
The motorist had offered the woman a lift in Nkomazi (Komatipoort), Mpumalanga, on Monday at about 7pm.
It is alleged that the woman was handed a drink in the car, before she passed out and woke up around midnight.
“The man who was allegedly in possession of a firearm held her hostage but she somehow managed to escape and reached the main road,” said police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala.
“The female victim eventually made it to the Tonga police station where she reported the incident. The members immediately followed the detailed information as described by the victim thereby making it to the house where she was earlier held hostage.”
He said the man who is from KwaZulu-Natal province was found by the police and swiftly arrested.
“Further than the firearm and ammunition that members found in the possession of the suspect at the scene, they discovered 392 grams of dagga, as well as 44 sachets of nyaope. The astute members also found that the serial numbers of the firearm were filled off.”
He said investigation team would dig deeper in their probe to establish whether the man was not involved in other similar incidents of that nature.
“Police cannot rule out the possibility of adding more charges against him as the investigation continues. He is currently facing charges, including illegal possession of a firearm with ammunition, possession of illegal drugs and could be linked to the woman’s kidnapping incident.”
Mpumalanga provincial commissioner, Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has reiterated the call for members of the public to refrain from hitch-hiking.
“We are very much concerned that even after constantly urging our people not to hitch-hike, they continue to do so hence incidents such as this. We hope people will come to learn from this experience and try to use safe modes of transport regardless of the costs,” she said.
Recently a hitch-hiker allegedly shot dead two men who had offered him a lift when they allegedly tried robbed him.
The two had offered him a lift from Mbombela (Nelspruit) driving in the direction of Malelane.
They allegedly along the way, diverted to Croc Valley farm where one of them reportedly drew a knife in an attempt to rob the man.
The hitch-hiker drew out his firearm and allegedly shot both men.
IOL