The Hawks in the Eastern Cape have confirmed that a kidnapping suspect was killed in a shootout with police near the Nahoon Dam outside East London on Tuesday.
Provincial spokesperson, Captain Yolisa Mgolodela, said a Constable was also wounded in the shootout.
She said the incident happened at a place where a Pakistani national who was kidnapped, was being released in exchange for a ransom.
Mgolodela said the foreign businessman was abducted on the 15th in East London.
She confirmed that an amount of R100 000 was paid for his release.
Foreign nationals who own businesses in the Eastern Cape say they pay a monthly protection fee to gangs, out of fear of being kidnapped and held for ransom.
A member of the Islamic Council of Southern Africa (ICSA), Dr Naveed Anjum, said more than 50 business owners have been kidnapped in just a few months, with more than R1 million paid out in ransom.
