DURBAN businesswoman Sandra Munsamy is expected to continue giving evidence during her kidnapping trial in the Durban High Court on Thursday.
She was kidnapped at gunpoint in the Pinetown area while on her way home from work in May 2019. She was kept for five months while kidnappers demanded $10 million ransom from her family for her freedom.
Lucas John Ndlovu, 36, Dumisani Radebe, 39 both from Mpumalanga, Jose Omega Tembe, 38 and Arthur Da Silva Mondlane, 36, both Mozambican nationals, were arrested and charged with kidnapping and attempted extortion in November 2019.
Radebe, Tembe and Mondlane were also charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances. Tembe and Mondlane were also charged for contravening the Immigration Act for entering South Africa without valid permits.
The trial began on Monday where the accused pleaded not guilty. On Tuesday, Munsamy, 46, took the stand and testified on camera via a video link from another room in the building.
On Wednesday she spent time answering questions from the State which was taking her through a variety of pictures taken by the police at the crime scene when they rescued her from her captors. She had to verify the pictures of a sealed window, the bathroom, blanket, silver chain as well as the bedroom where she was kept was correct.
Munsamy gave details of how she was kidnapped and taken to Gauteng where she was kept for five months.
She was the chief financial officer for the family business CrossMoor Transport when she was kidnapped.
It was around 5.39pm when she noticed she was being followed by a grey Mercedes-Benz car with Gauteng number plates.
On Tuesday, the mother-of-two told the court that she was about to enter the M13 from Stapleton Road in Pinetown, when a white BMW 1 Series reversed into her black Range Rover. When she tried to reverse, the grey Mercedes blocked her way and she was kidnapped at gunpoint.
“I screamed and then heard two gunshots. I opened the door. I was afraid and became disoriented. Two men pulled me out of the vehicle. I sat down facing the oncoming traffic. I begged them to leave me, to take my belongings or the vehicle.”
She said when they arrived in Gauteng she was taken to a room in the house. A short while later a man, who she subsequently heard people call “the boss”, entered the room. He told her that they had made contact with her family and assured them that she was safe.
Munsamy said she spent the night with a black cloth around her head. The next morning “the boss” told her he would remove it. She said she was given three continental pillows and a duvet to use that night. She slept on a mattress on the floor. She said the reason why she was kept so long was because her family told the captors the family did not have $10 million.
Daily News