ENTREPRENEURS and professionals should rethink the assumption that kidnapping is primarily a threat to wealthy executives and high-profile individuals, as criminals may exploit something far more common: predictable routines, access to mobile banking, vehicles and knowledge of where a person lives and works.
That is the warning from security executive Claudinne Thomas, founder and Managing Director of Imbokodo Security Services and Gauteng Tactical Unit (GTU).
South Africa recorded 4,638 kidnapping cases during the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year (April to June 2026), an increase of 172 cases compared with the same period last year, highlighting growing concerns that organised crime syndicates are increasingly using abductions and extortion as lucrative criminal enterprises.
“You don’t necessarily have to be a millionaire. If criminals believe they can access your money, your phone, your vehicle or other belongings, they may see an opportunity,” says Thomas.
The target may be the routine
Thomas says the traditional image of kidnapping as a sophisticated crime involving a wealthy individual and a lengthy ransom negotiation does not reflect the full range of kidnapping-related threats.
Short-duration or so-called express kidnappings can involve victims being forced to withdraw cash, transfer funds or surrender valuables. In other cases, kidnapping may be linked to hijacking, robbery or extortion.
The circumstances and motives can vary considerably from one incident to another.
For businesspeople and professionals, Thomas says several everyday patterns deserve greater attention:
- Predictable banking and financial movements: Regular visits to the same ATM, bank or shopping centre, particularly around payday or after significant business receipts have been received, can create predictable patterns.
- Repeated travel routines: Leaving work at the same time every evening and following the same route home can make a person’s movements easier to anticipate.
- Digital exposure: A compromised or poorly secured phone can potentially provide access to banking applications, personal information, contacts and location data.
- Working after hours: Operating businesses or professional practices alone, or leaving premises late at night, may increase exposure during the transition between work and home.
- Social and entertainment activities: Leaving restaurants, clubs or events alone can create opportunities for criminals to observe movements and establish patterns.
- Changes in routine: Holidays, business travel and other periods outside normal routines can create different forms of exposure, particularly when people carry valuables or spend time in unfamiliar locations.
“Security is not about living in fear. It is about recognising patterns before someone else does,” Thomas says.
Everyone needs to put themselves on their own security checklist
Thomas says people often take responsibility for the safety of employees, clients, children and family members while treating their own security as secondary.
“The danger is that we are often thinking about everyone else’s safety before our own,” she says.
“You are looking after your staff, your clients, your children and your family. Your own security can become an afterthought, and it shouldn’t.”
She says personal security should be treated as part of everyday planning, particularly for those whose professional responsibilities require them to travel, work late, handle money or operate businesses independently.
Thomas’s advocacy for greater awareness of personal security is also informed by her own experience as a survivor of gender-based violence.
“I know what it means to experience vulnerability personally,” she says. “That experience changed the way I think about protection. It is not an abstract issue for me.”
Thomas says that experience strengthened her belief that security should be practical and accessible, rather than something viewed as the preserve of wealthy individuals or large corporations.
She progressed from administrative roles into senior management before founding Imbokodo Security Services and later expanding into Gauteng Tactical Unit. Her objective, she says, is not only to provide security services, but also to promote security awareness within communities and encourage more people to consider careers and leadership opportunities in the security industry.
For Thomas, the conversation about personal safety should include a harder conversation about what it takes to protect the people who are building businesses, careers and communities.
“South Africans are amazing. Millions of us have expanded our lives beyond the home. We are entrepreneurs, professionals, employers and wealth creators,” she says. “We also need to be honest about the security environment in which we are being asked to do that.”
Her message is that personal security should become part of planning, rather than something considered only after an incident.
“Don’t wait until someone follows you home, watches your business or puts you in a vehicle before you start thinking about security,” Thomas says.
“The earlier you understand how criminals identify an opportunity, the more you can do to reduce your exposure.”
Image supplied (Claudinne Thomas is the founder and Managing Director of Imbokodo Security Services and Gauteng Tactical Unit.
