Gun wielding assailants, hurried moves to three different stash houses, proof of life videos, a failed money drop and dodgy negotiations over the price of her freedom.
These were some of the revelations that came to light when Gqeberha biokineticist Riana Pretorius, 27, testified about her harrowing eight day kidnapping ordeal for the first time.
Pretorius burst into tears as she described hearing her Dad's voice on the phone, while running to safety in a dazed and bewildered state after a R1m ransom had been secured.
Xolisile Rawutini and Xolani Kafile have been charged with the kidnapping, which took place outside of Pretorius’ workplace in Newton Park on 16 March last year.
Pretorius told State Advocate Benedict Wilson that she arrived at work shortly before 8am and proceeded to park her vehicle.
Upon her arrival, she noticed a white Toyota Corrolla exiting one of the parking bays.
Paying it no mind, Pretorius went to the front passenger side of her car to remove her belongings.
At this point, her cell phone was in her hand because Pretorius was busy texting her mother to let her know that she arrived at work safely.
Before she could hit send, three gun wielding men wearing hoodies and balaclavas had accosted her, according to her testimony.
Instinctively thinking that it's a robbery, Pretorius tossed her phone to the back of the car.
She said one of the men took her phone from her car, while two others forcefully dragged her into the Corolla.
The court heard how the kidnappers had at one point switched vehicles and how a bag had been placed over Pretorius’ head.
En-route she was told to unlock her phone and to memorise her Mom and Dad's phone numbers before the phone was presumably tossed out the window.
Stash houses
She described the first place she was kept as a “dark building”.
“It had a plastic floor with sand and when it rained it sounded like a zinc roof.
“I assumed I was in a shack.”
It was here where Pretorius was asked to provide her Dad's phone number and where a proof of life photograph was taken the first time.
Pretorius testified that at some point she was moved to a different place and room which had brown floors, yellow walls and where the windows were covered with planks.
When the kidnappers prepared to move Pretorius for a third time, she was taken to a vehicle which she said had a “sliding door” still with the bag over her head.
“I could hear how kids were playing around me and people talking, but nobody did anything.”
The third location felt like a big building, according to Pretorius with an uphill driveway, big tiled floors.
At this place, “the entire bathroom was blue including tiles, the walls, the floor and the basin.
It was here where two of her captors informed her that her Dad had been contacted for money, where a proof of live video was filmed and where frustrated assailants returned to after a failed money drop.
The court heard how Pretorius had lost track
of the days, dates and time while fresh negotiations where done with her Dad.
Then one night, after the men returned she heard zip bags and tapping of the keys on a calculator.
“I could hear from their tone that this time around they were happy.
“One of them said R1m out load.”
The release
On this night, Pretorius was prepped for her release with one of the captors giving her a “hoodie” to wear because it was cold.
She told State Advocate Benedict Wilson that she still had the bag over her head and she was pushed down onto the seat.
“They asked me if I wanted to be dropped at a police station or somewhere else.
“I recalled them saying that they have friends in the police so I asked to be dropped right there,” said Pretorius.
Her captors gave her a cell phone and instructed her to run and not look back once the bag was removed from her head.
She was also told to discard the phone once used as well as the jacket (hoodie)
“Once they removed the bag from my head, I ran.
Pretorius remembers running past what looked like a dumpsite and a shack with a red door.
“I ran and ran.
“After I eventually managed to unlock the phone it opened on a number. I did not know whose number it was but I just dialed it.
“As I was running the number was ringing. I saw lights over a hill and that it came from a garage.
“Just when I thought the person on the other end of the phone was not going to pick up, my Dad answered the phone, Pretorius testified while battling to bite back tears.
Pretorius told her father that she didn't know where she was.
She reached the garage and asked a woman to explain to her Dad where they were.
When the woman returned the phone she had ended the call.
The phone was unable to make any more calls, which left Pretorius uncertain whether the woman had told her Dad where to find her.
The security at the garage shop took her in, locked the doors and asked her if they should call the police.
To this, Pretorius answered: “Nee. My Pa gaan my kom haal.” (No. My Dad is going to fetch me)
A bakkie later stopped at the garage.
“It was a policeman and my Dad,” Pretorius told the court.
Pretorius will continue her cross-examination with Kafile attorney, Wayne Mac Gear on Tuesday.
