A Mozambican businessman working in Gauteng, Faizel Charloos, who was arrested for allegedly orchestrating last year’s kidnapping of Jahyr Abdula, has been remanded after he appeared in the Benoni magistrate’s court on Friday.

Jahyr Abdula, the son of one of Mozambique’s wealthiest businessmen, Salimo Abdula, was kidnapped in October on the East Rand.

Salimo Adbula is the former chairperson of the board of the Mozambican branch of Vodacom.

Jahyr and a friend were travelling on the N17 shortly after arriving in SA when they were stopped by three cars fitted with police blue lights. His friend was rescued shortly after the kidnapping, while an emaciated Jahyr was rescued from a flat in Heidelberg in November during a police raid.

The 43-year-old Charloos was arrested on Thursday last week for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping.  

Earlier this week, Charloos and his wife Sadyia Charloos appeared in the Protea regional court in Soweto in connection with two other kidnappings.

During the police raids on houses in Lenasia, Lawley, Brackenhurst and Benoni, which are allegedly linked to Charloos and three of his alleged accomplices, police rescued a kidnapped Gauteng businessman, seized an AK47, ammunition, military grade signal jammers, vehicle registration plates and recovered R6m in cash, 6,000 Mandrax tablets, a receipt for the sale of a R1.9m property in Bryanston, a high-performance vehicle and luxury clothing.

Charloos, who has dual SA citizenship and runs multiple businesses, including a used car dealership in Gauteng, appeared briefly in the Benoni magistrate’s court on Friday on kidnapping charges.

Dressed in black jeans and shirt, he kept his head bowed down while he stood in the dock of courtroom 2 next to his co-accused Sizwe Brian Hlabati.

Hlabati, a minibus taxi owner who runs businesses that rebuild scrapped minibus taxis, was arrested in February.

His lawyer Johan Eksteen, who also represents Charloos, told TimesLIVE Hlabati, who was released in February, was subsequently rearrested on March 6 and charged with kidnapping.

On Friday, Hlabati was granted R30,000 bail but Charloos was remanded until a formal bail application on March 31.

Eksteen said on Monday Charloos would appear in the Protea magistrate’s court with his wife Sadyia.

He said the couple were both in custody.

Monday’s court appearance would be for a date to be set for the couple’s formal bail application.

“In the Protea court matter, the Charloos couple are charged with two counts of kidnapping. They face additional charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition and possession of a suspected stolen vehicle.”

Hlabati's brother, Thokozane Hlabati, said he was relieved his brother had been granted bail.

“The family is in the dark about what is going on, as is Brian. We do not know how the police can claim he is linked to these crimes. It does not make sense to any of us.” 

TimesLIVE