South African Abductors Fail To Release Zimbabwean Businessman Evans Katumba Following Ransom Payment After Kidnapping Him In Durban

South African abductors have failed to release Zimbabwean businessman Evans Katumba following a ransom payment after they kidnapped him in Durban.

Abductors Refuse To Release Zimbabwean Businessman Evans Katumba After Kidnapping Him

South African police have since initiated an investigation into Katumba’s disappearance, as his captors failed to release him despite receiving a R1.5 million ransom following his abduction.

Katumba, who had been residing in South Africa for ten years, was abducted on 22 March by assailants armed with AK47s at a nightspot he had recently acquired. After Katumba went missing last month, his abductors demanded a ransom of R2.5 million. Family and friends managed to gather R1.5 million, intending to drop it in Ballito, a coastal town near Durban.

However, although the ransom was delivered as planned on 24 March, Katumba was not released by his captors as agreed.

His friend narrated:

“They demanded that one person should bring the money and that police should not be involved. The money was dropped at an open field on the outskirts of Ballito, about 45 minutes from Durban. The kidnappers said they would release him after an hour, but that was the last communication they made.”

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How The Danger Started For The Tycoon

Evans Katumba Kidnapping — *South African Abductors Fail To Release Zimbabwean Businessman Evans Katumba Following Ransom Payment After Kidnapping Him In Durban [Image: ZimLive]*

Katumba is a fuel supplier and was almost kidnapped in a failed attempt in December 2023. Some people in the province are unhappy over his purchase of Yugo Nightclub in February. The nightclub is where the late rapper, AKA, was billed to perform the night he was assassinated.

His friend told ZimLive:

“A week after he bought Yugo, there was an attempt to hijack him while driving his G63. He was stopped by a police car, and an officer came to talk to him before returning to the police car, purportedly to check something. While Vardy waited for the officer to come back, suddenly, there were these random people trying to open the doors, and he sped away.

“He went to the United Kingdom and came back in early March to begin rebranding his club. Around the same time he also bought a Ferrari and an Amarok. He kept on receiving phone calls from people saying he must hire them as security and some saying he is a foreigner and can’t own a club in Durban.

“You have all these people from the underworld wanting a piece of it, some saying, can we work with you, can we partner with you, or Can we do this or that? He was adamant that he would do everything his own way, and that’s what he did. Some of us got concerned, and we told him that his profile now requires that he has security at all times, but he decided against it.”

The post South African Abductors Fail To Release Zimbabwean Businessman Evans Katumba Following Ransom Payment After Kidnapping Him In Durban appeared first on iHarare News.