By Neelam Rahim

Police are hunting for three men who kidnapped a lady, her baby and her nanny and robbed them before dumping them in bushes.

A 45-year-old woman, her 18-month-old girl and her nanny (31) are safely home after allegedly being kidnapped from the woman’s house and robbed of their personal belongings in Schoemansdal, Nkomazi.

According to a statement by the police, on July 19 at 19:30, three armed male suspects wearing balaclavas and face masks stormed into a house in Buffelspruit within the Schoemansdal area, held the victims at gunpoint and demanded cash, cellphones, bank cards and car keys.

The victims told the police they were forced into a gold Toyota Run-X, which belongs to the homeowner, and were driven away into the bush in Hectorspruit near Komatipoort.

“Upon intruding, the suspects allegedly instructed the homeowner to log onto a bank app on her mobile phone. Subsequently, a transaction of an undisclosed amount of money was made. One among the suspects is claimed to have gone to Malalane to cash out the money while the three victims remained within the bush with the other two suspects,” the statement read.

Nearly eight hours after the ordeal, the robbers instructed their victims to steer away and never look back. This was around 03:00 the following morning.

“The victims were then given a lift by a Good Samaritan and subsequently reached home. They then reported the incident to the police at Schoemansdal whereby a case of kidnapping with an extra charge of robbery was opened.”

No arrests have been made yet.

The incident intensely worries the Mpumalanga commissioner, lieutenant general Semakaleng Daphney Manamela. She says it can’t be allowed criminals will force citizens to live in fear in their own houses.

“We believe that there’s someone who knows or saw something somewhere. The general public must come on board in order that we will put an end to the current trend before another victim is kidnapped. It’s fortunate that all victims somehow returned home safely. Who knows what might happen to the following victim? It’s paramount that members of the general public who knows the whereabouts of those criminals to right away report them to the authorities,” Manamela said.