Cape Town - The spike in kidnappings has been recorded in the last three months, with 85 people kidnapped for ransom.
Police said on Friday, during a briefing to MPs, that the kidnappings were recorded in six of the nine provinces.
There was a spate of kidnappings last year, with the Moti brothers kidnapped in Limpopo but released after a few weeks after the family allegedly paid a ransom of R50 million.
The family has since left the country after the release of their children, aged between seven and 15 years old.
Kidnappers also took a Grade 5 learner outside her school in Mayfair last November, but she was released in January, and some of the suspects have been arrested.
SAPS head of crime research Major-General Norman Sekhukhune said cases of kidnapping were on the rise in South Africa.
He said out of the 85 kidnappings cases that were recorded, most of them were in Gauteng and others in other provinces.
In Gauteng alone, there were 48 kidnapping cases between October and December last year.
It was followed by the Eastern Cape, where there were eight cases. In KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, they recorded six cases, respectively. In the North West, there were four cases during this period, said Sekhukhune.
He said no cases were recorded in the other provinces.
Police Minister Bheki Cele has in the past expressed concern about the rise in kidnapping cases. He said this was a new phenomenon in South Africa, and they were trying to deal with it.
Some syndicates are reported to be behind the kidnappings to score huge amounts in ransom.
Political Bureau