Cape Town - The seven cases against three suspects accused of robbing men using Grindr will be heard in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court.
Mlungisi Vincent Butu, Bongani Zulu and Zwelakhe Ngwenya face seven counts of kidnapping, extortion and robbery with aggravating circumstances, for crimes that occurred in various areas including Woodstock, Claremont, Durbanville, Camps Bay and Brackenfell.
The Hawks and its organised crime unit had made the first arrest in Woodstock on June 14, after noticing suspicious activities in the bank account of a 50-year-old man who was being held hostage, allegedly by the suspects.
After that arrest, it emerged that the accused had more victims.
The accused made a brief appearance in Bellville Magistrate’s Court yesterday, where the request by the State for it to be transferred to Cape Town was granted.
National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said: “The case in Bellville has been transferred to Cape Town for centralisation. So we will have all of them on August 1, when they are expected to apply for bail. We had asked the court to centralise all and to appear in Cape Town, so we don’t have to go to different courts. They are facing kidnapping, extortion, and robbery with aggravating circumstances charges. We have added a new cybercrime charge, we have drafted an interim charge sheet.”
According to the Ntabazalila, the modus operandi was the same in all seven incidents.
“In the Durbanville matter, it is alleged that the accused had been communicating with the complainant via the app. He was called and told to meet at a guest house.
“They then tied him up and demanded money from him. He called his employer who paid them about R3 000 and he was released and able to identify them by photo identification.
“We now have a new case of Camps Bay. It’s actually not a new case, it’s from 2023. The victim and the accused were chatting on the app and he was invited to a hotel.
“He went and then he was kidnapped, tied up and then they took money – R100 000 – from his bank account.
“That is the modus operandi. We expect that once the media are able to show their faces, more victims will come, if there are more,” said Ntabazalila.
Cape Argus