Businessman rescued, Mozambican kidnapping ringleader killed

A KIDNAPPED Indian businessman has been reunited with his family after the South African Police Service (SAPS) anti-kidnapping task team rescued him during an operation that also left a notorious Mozambican kidnapping kingpin dead.

- NTOMBIZODWA DLAMINI

The Indian businessman was kidnapped on July 23 this year from his business premises in Benoni.

Police traced the businessman to a shack in Alexandra shortly after midnight on Thursday.

His safe return followed a shootout near the R21 in Kempton Park on Wednesday evening, where the suspect known as “Dollarman” was fatally wounded.

SAPS national spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the suspect, António Francisco Macamamo, was a major figure in regional kidnapping syndicates.

According to some security sources, Macamamo demanded that ransoms be paid strictly in US dollars — a strict condition that earned him the nickname Dollar Man.