South Africa’s small business sector is facing a sustained wave of violent crime, with kidnappings for ransom, extortion attempts, and targeted killings of business owners continuing to rise across Gauteng and other provinces.
According to the South African Police Service (SAPS) annual crime statistics and quarterly reports,the country records more than 15,000 kidnapping cases annually in recent reporting cycles.
Data also indicates that ransom-related kidnappings form a growing portion of these cases, often involving economically active individuals, including small business owners. The South African Police Service (SAPS) says many of these incidents are linked to organised criminal networks.
Gauteng Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni has warned that these crimes are increasingly structured rather than opportunistic.
“We are seeing a pattern where victims are deliberately selected based on their visibility in business activity. These are coordinated operations involving surveillance and planning before the abduction takes place,” he said.
He added that kidnapping-for-ransom cases often involve surveillance, coordinated abductions, and the use of safe houses where victims are held while ransom negotiations take place.
SAPS confirms that Gauteng remains the province with the highest concentration of kidnapping cases in the country.
SMME operators live in fear
Small business owners operating in high-risk township areas say the environment has become increasingly unstable and dangerous.
Spaza shop owner Thabo Mokoena, who runs a business in Tembisa, said the fear of kidnapping and extortion now influences daily operations.
“You cannot operate normally anymore. Every customer, every movement outside your shop, you are aware of it. We are working, but we are also constantly afraid,” he said.
Another informal trader, Nomvula Dlamini, who operates a food stall in Johannesburg , said violent crime has changed how she runs her business.
“We close earlier now. We do not keep a lot of cash. You are always thinking about what could happen next,” she explained.
In one widely publicised case, Vosloorus spaza shop owner, Mazwi Kubheka was allegedly abducted on 2 April 2026. Kuheka was later released by his alleged captors in a dazed state on 2 May 2026 after a period in captivity.
While details of the investigation remain under police scrutiny, authorities say the case reflects a broader pattern seen across Gauteng, where business owners in township economies are increasingly targeted in kidnapping and extortion-related crimes.
Crime experts warn of structured criminal economies
Criminologist Professor Lillian Artz, a specialist in violent crime and gendered safety systems at the University of Cape Town, says the rise in kidnappings and extortion reflects deeper structural criminal networks operating within informal economies.
“What we are observing is the monetisation of vulnerability. Small business owners in township economies are being treated as predictable financial targets. The violence is not random; it is instrumental and economically driven,”she said.
She added that the increasing overlap between informal trading environments, and organised criminal activity is creating conditions where violence becomes part of economic control systems rather than isolated criminal acts.
As kidnappings, extortion and targeted attacks continue to affect small business owners across South Africa, the pressure on township and informal economies is intensifying. For many entrepreneurs is now a question of personal safety.
