A man believed to be one of South Africa’s biggest kidnapping kingpins, who was rearrested on Wednesday in Bela-Bela after fleeing from a Johannesburg court on Tuesday, has been linked to at least three other kidnapping cases.
Faizel Charloos and his co-accused were supposed to appear in the Protea magistrate’s court in Soweto in connection with the 2022 kidnapping of Lukhman Kazi. The 34-year-old businessman from Lenasia was rescued by police.
When Charloos was first arrested in November 2022, astonished officers walked in on a cache of illegal items when they searched his house in Lenasia.
“We found multiple passports, an AK-47, a stolen Hyundai and R3m in cash,” a police source said.
There are just too many matters where his hand is on the steering wheel behind the scenes.
— Senior police source
According to security cluster and police sources close to the investigations, Charloos is believed to be the driving force behind the activities of a kidnapping syndicate.
“If not at the very top, [he is] for sure right up there. There are just too many matters where his hand is on the steering wheel behind the scenes. But the investigations are coming together. He is nearing the end of his career,” a senior police source said on Friday.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Louw-Mjonondwane confirmed Charloos is linked to two other kidnapping matters in Lenasia.
In one case, he is the first accused. In the other, he will be added as a suspect when the case is back in court on Wednesday, she said.
The Sunday Times understands the latest case is related to the kidnapping of Muhammad Bhiko, 20, who was rescued by police last week in Elandsfontein/Eikenhof, south of Johannesburg.
Police sources said Charloos was now officially a person of interest in the Bhiko matter.
“He was one of the people who paid the rent in cash for the house where the victim was held. The landlord contacted investigators earlier in the week with other information that linked Charloos to the kidnapping.”
The Sunday Times visited the area last Thursday morning — hours after Bhiko was rescued.
The landlord, who asked not to be named, confirmed that he called the police after recognising a car used by the kidnappers, who rented the house next door, a day after Charloos had fled from the court.
“I turned into the gravel road leading to our home and saw this white Volkswagen driving in front of me towards our house. The driver saw me, made a U-turn and fled. After that, I felt unsafe and called the police,” he said.
The landlord said he recognised the car. “It often came to the house where the kidnappers kept the victim.”
Police sources confirmed that a white Volkswagen Polo was found in Charloos’ possession when he was arrested on Wednesday in Bela-Bela.
Bhiko’s kidnappers rented the house where they held him for two months. On Friday, the Sunday Times showed the landlord a picture of Charloos.
“I [recognised] him immediately. He paid the first month’s rent. The second time he sent one of his guys to pay,” the landlord said.
On Saturday morning, the landlord contacted the Sunday Times. “I received a call from one of the kidnappers from prison last night. When I recognised his voice, I just hung up, but he made multiple further attempts [to call me], [but I did not answer],” the landlord said.
The Sunday Times put the number through the True Caller app and it came up as “Thabo Sun City”.
“This tactic has worked for the kidnappers over the years,” said a security cluster source. “Witnesses are intimidated from inside prison, and this has caused many cases to fall flat. The witnesses think, 'If this guy can call me from prison, he can hurt me from there too.' Then they withdraw their co-operation.”
The SAPS annual crime statistics show that in the past decade kidnappings increased by 264%, from 4,692 in 2014/15 to 17,061 in 2023/24
— Institute for Security Studies
The source said that when Charloos was rearrested in Bela-Bela this week, he was hiding with his family at a holiday resort.
“He denied fleeing court. He said he was there but had a serious tummy bug and ran to the toilet. He told us that when he got back to the courtroom it was empty,” the source said with a grin.
“We asked him why he had gone to Bela-Bela and not [home to] Lenasia, and he said he just needed to get away for a few days because of all the stress. We also could not reach him on his cellphone, and when we asked him why, he said he needed to switch off for a little while.”
On Wednesday, another suspect linked to Charloos was arrested in Johannesburg.
“Intelligence gathered during the Charloos arrest operation led the investigative team to identify a 54-year-old man as a crucial suspect in a kidnapping case,” police said. “A tracing team was immediately activated, and the suspect was located and arrested at a hospital in Johannesburg. He has since been charged for his involvement in the kidnapping. His mobile devices were seized for further investigation, and he is currently being detained at Diepkloof SAPS.”
The man’s name is known to the Sunday Times, but he cannot be identified until he has appeared in court.
Col Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi of the SAPS confirmed the arrest.
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) says statistics show kidnapping is on the rise in South Africa. “The SAPS annual crime statistics show that in the past decade kidnappings increased by 264%, from 4,692 in 2014/15 to 17,061 in 2023/24.”
The most recent quarterly crime statistics, released in February, show an ongoing rise.
From October to December, the latest period for which there are official crime statistics, kidnappings were up 3.7% from the previous quarter, largely owing to increases in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. In total, 4,748 people were kidnapped during this period.
About 52.6% of kidnappings occurred in Gauteng, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 19%.
The ISS said that while some kidnappings for ransom are orchestrated by sophisticated transnational organised groups specialising in high-value targets, most are perpetrated by local crime groups.
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