Lerato Maloka, the executive mayor of Sedibeng, has been reunited with her family after being abducted.
Police say that shortly after Maloka and her driver left a particular Alberton home on Friday, she was kidnapped and hijacked.
The mayor’s husband went to the Dawnpark police station to report the incident to the police after the house’s owner, shaken to his core, tipped him off, according to the police’s preliminary reports.
Mayor found unharmed
“A team was immediately established, and the police’s rapid response service, via the 10111 call centre, broadcast a lookout with the vehicle’s description,” said Brigadier Brenda Muridili, the spokesperson for the police.
“On Saturday, the vehicle was recovered around midnight in Dawnpark by the Katlehong police officials.
“A few hours later, at about 2am, a report was issued that the mayor and the driver were found unharmed and reunited with their families.”
As the investigation progresses, Muridili added, the investigating officer will be getting the statements of both victims. “A manhunt for the suspects is underway.”
Maloka was briefly removed from office in January due to a no-confidence motion, but she was narrowly re-elected in February.
She has been the mayor of the Sedibeng district municipality since 2021 and is currently under suspension for misconduct.
The DA described Maloka as a troublesome individual who contributed to the waste of more than R500 000.00 on a trip to Germany.
Minister Simelane robbed
The Sunday World reported at the weekend that a month ago, Thembi Simelane, the Minister of Human Settlements, was followed to a health centre in Pretoria by two men who robbed her in broad daylight.
On April 30, Simelane was collecting her medication at Die Wilgers Day Care Clinic when the unknown men pounced on her and stole her luxury iPhone 16.
Her PLO laptop was stolen in Cape Town, where she spends the majority of her time as a member of parliament, two weeks prior to the robbery.
Simelane said in a statement obtained by the publication that she went to the medical facility on busy Denneboom Street after 4 p.m. to pick up her prescription.
While waiting to pick up her medication, she was talking to another caller on her phone when two men came into the centre, slid up to her, took the phone, and fled.
