Kidnapped businessman Ismail Rajah rescued in Khayelitsha

Cape Town businessman Ismail Rajah, 69, who was kidnapped earlier this year outside his company Good Hope Construction’s offices in Joubert Street, Parow Valley, is back home. Picture: File

Cape Town businessman Ismail Rajah, 69, who was kidnapped earlier this year outside his company Good Hope Construction’s offices in Joubert Street, Parow Valley, is back home. Picture: File

Published Jun 29, 2022

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More than three months after he was kidnapped, a Cape Town businessman is back with his family after he was rescued overnight from his captors.

Ismail Rajah, who was kidnapped by armed men outside his business premises in Parow in March, was rescued from a house in Khayelitsha, Cape Town.

During the raid to rescue Rajah, police arrested four men who had held the 69-year-old captive.

Rajah is the owner of construction firm Good Hope Construction (GHC) who this year served papers on the City of Cape Town over a cancelled tender contract, alleging fraud and tender corruption.

“Following his kidnapping, a ransom demand was made to his family. It is reported that the family were already en route to Dubai to expedite the ransom payment when the SAPS National Anti-Kidnapping Task Team was roped in to investigate,” Colonel Athlenda Mathe said.

Just after midnight, police and private security went to the identified address and rescued Rajah.

Two Mozambican nationals and two South Africans between the ages of 30 and 38 were arrested and are expected to appear in the Parow Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

“Police have confiscated cellphones and various equipment on suspicion of having been utilised by the suspects during the commission of the crime,” Mathe said.