KIDNAPPED ZIM BUSINESSMAN STILL MISSING : ONE MONTH LATER
ON Saturday, the clock marked exactly ONE MONTH since Zimbabwean businessman, Ranga Gova, was kidnapped in Centurion while driving home.
The 35-year-old businessman is yet to be found. The brazen attack, on November 3, was captured on CCTV.
He was driving his wife’s Mercedes Benz when the kidnappers struck at the Midstream Mediclinic traffic lights, just minutes away from his home.
The footage showed Gova driving up to the intersection in a grey Mercedes-Benz CLA200D.
A vehicle then stopped next to him while a second parked just behind him.
The suspects exited the two cars and Gova was grabbed and bundled into a silver vehicle.
The driver then made a U-turn and drove off. A man then got into the Mercedes and the second vehicle sped off.
His mother, Otilia Gova, immediately flew to South Africa after the ordeal. Speaking to IOL, when she arrived in South Africa last month, Otillia said: “When I came out of church, I called him and he told me he was at the golf course having coffee. After coffee, he was going to go home.
“Before I got home, I received a call from his wife. She was crying. Then I asked her what had gone wrong and she told me Ranga had been hijacked and kidnapped.
“I feel very devastated. I am at a loss for words. I don’t know who would want to hurt my son. As far as I know, from primary, secondary and even at university, he has never had any squabbles with anyone, even his friends can vouch for him.”
Otilia described Ranga, her only son, as quiet and humble.
His wife said the kidnapping has been really hard on the family.
The couple, who have been together for six years, have a two-year-old daughter.
“It has been extremely hard. It is too much. My daughter goes to the garage and calls for her dad,” Mamelo said.
“They got the vehicle registration for the cars and realised it was my car. They have our details so they came to our house.
“They thought it was me but I told them my husband was driving my car. They then took me to the police station.”
The car was recovered near their housing estate.
“He (Gova) is usually at home. He only spends time away when he is on business trips and that doesn’t usually last for such a long time.
“My daughter doesn’t understand what is going on.
“She keeps going to the garage door and whenever the door opens she thinks it is her dad. She keeps trying to open the garage door and goes to the garage to see if her dad is back.”
Gova is in the fuel industry and the couple moved to Centurion about four years ago. – IOL/TimesLive.
