[imagesource: Supplied by Moti family]

The Moti family are currently in the midst of what must feel like a nightmare they cannot wake from.

Last Wednesday, seven gunmen attacked a vehicle carrying the Moti brothers (Zidan, 6, Zayyad, 11, Alaan, 13, and Zia, 15) en route to school in Polokwane.

The gunmen used their two vehicles to stop the car carrying the brothers, fired R5 rifles and handguns, forced the children into a Mercedes-Benz, and sped off.

According to the driver of the car carrying the children to school, the gunmen were well prepared, wearing white overalls, masks, balaclavas, and gloves.

The Moti family are among Polokwane’s wealthiest, having found success in both commercial property developments and the luxury car trade.

The Sunday Times spoke with Danie Strydom, a former hostage negotiator with the South African Police Service (SAPS), about why no ransom has yet been requested (at least publicly):

[Strydom] said the lack of a ransom demand could be because the abductors want to make the parents, Nazim and Shakira Moti, more desperate — or that there is a reason for the abduction, perhaps known to the family, that does not involve extortion. A third alternative is that the worst has happened to the boys…

“A lack of [ransom] demand is a specifically chosen strategy. The silence will drive any parent crazy, making them desperate and willing to pay. This case will only be cracked through good intelligence.”

He said when there is no communication from kidnappers, a family should offer a reward to try to elicit “positive information”.

He believes this isn’t the first hijacking these abductors have carried out, and that it’s likely the four brothers have been separated to complicate any rescue efforts.

This graphic, via The Sunday Times, maps out the moments following the kidnapping:

Image: Nolo Moima

The driver was taking the same route to school that he has taken for the past eight months, and was likely being surveilled by the kidnappers.

Jason Griessel, from Broll Risk Management, says the multiple abductions point to “serious coordination and pre-planning.”

A lawyer speaking on behalf of the family, Philip Smit, said they are “beside themselves”, which is entirely understandable given the circumstances.

One child being abducted is bad enough, but four is almost unfathomable.

IOL spoke with private investigator Mike Bolhuis, who believes it’s unlikely that the kidnappers would harm the children:

“In most cases, they don’t harm the victims because they have the most valuable thing on earth that the family possesses and that’s their loved ones and they want their money.

“It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t ever happen though. We have had cases where the victims have been beaten.

“If the kidnappers have to go to such extents, it’s most likely because the family refuses to pay up and also if they are sure they cannot be tracked and traced.”

That doesn’t appear to be the case here, with Smit saying yesterday that there has been no contact with the abductors.

However, crime expert Guy Lamb says it is possible that the kidnappers may have made contact and told the family that the police must not be involved at all.

Smit has also urged people not to spread fake news on social media, with the investigation “in a sensitive phase”.

[sources:timeslive&iol]