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- Kidnapped Nkangala District municipal manager Margaret Skosana and her driver, Gugu Mtsweni, have been found.
- They were kidnapped at the entrance of the Nkangala district offices in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, a week ago.
- Samwu in Mpumalanga said it was not the first time that a senior executive from a municipality had been kidnapped.
Kidnapped Nkangala District municipal manager Margaret Skosana and her driver, Gugu Mtsweni, have been found.
According to Mpumalanga Premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, both were found unharmed.
Skosana, who uses a wheelchair, and Mtsweni were kidnapped at the entrance of the district's offices in Middelburg by people pretending to be police officers a week ago.
Mtsweni-Tsipane said they were found on Wednesday at around 20:00, along the side of the N14 highway in Diepsloot, Gauteng.
"We've been hard at work, searching everywhere, to get them back. We have managed to crack the case, and they are now back," said Mtsweni-Tsipane.
Police spokesperson, Colonel Donald Mdhluli, said they were "dumped by their assailants in the bushes near the N14".
He added that although tied up with rope, Mtsweni had managed to move to the road and was spotted by a taxi driver. The taxi driver contacted the police, and the two victims were transported to Diepsloot police station and later to hospital.
He said:
Mtsweni-Tsipane said both victims appeared to be physically unharmed, but were experiencing psychological trauma.
"We all understand the situation that they were in. You can imagine the magnitude of the trauma they are experiencing. It has been a very difficult week that they have been through. For now, it is early for us to say much since we have not spoken to them that much," she said.
"We need to give them space with their loved ones so that they can bond, get to see their family, their children."
A member of the Skosana family, named Peter, thanked all those involved in her return, but pleaded for privacy to allow the family to recover from the incident.
READ | Kidnapped municipal manager: Private eye claims a R5m ransom demand was made
News24 previously reported a private investigating company that was working on the case had received a R5-million ransom demand.
Nkangala Mayor Leah Mabuza previously told News24 that CCTV footage showed a man brandishing a rifle getting out of a car with blue lights and getting into the municipal manager's car.
The victim's vehicle was found abandoned at a Middelburg mine on the day of the kidnapping, Thursday, 20 October. Skosana's wheelchair and other belongings were found with the abandoned vehicle.
Just a few hours before Skosana and Mtsweni were found, Mabuza told News24 that Skosana was involved in a bulk water supply contract, but that she had not reported any threats related to that.
According to Mabuza, the project was linked to the National Department of Water and Sanitation and aimed to ensure that the Dr JS Moroka and Thembisile Hani local municipalities, as well as the Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality in Limpopo, were receiving water.
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"The municipal manager has not indicated if there were any threats that she received [over] the project. We were speculating that it could have been the project, but there were no issues before," Mabuza said.
The South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU) in the province also weighed in on the matter, saying this was not the first time that a senior executive at a Mpumalanga municipality had been kidnapped.
The union's Highveld region chairperson Mvangeli Mthimunye said Dr JS Moroka Municipality Mayor Gijimani Skosana was robbed and kidnapped at his house and later dumped in Kwaggafontein, where he sought help from locals.
The incident happened in 2017, he said.
"A few months later, we had an incident, again at JS Moroka, whereby one of the middle managers was shot. We are not only shocked, but we are afraid as municipal workers," said Mthimunye.
He said they were worried that attacks on municipal officials could become a trend. He urged municipalities to work with the police to ensure the safety of their workers.
