The South African Police Service (SAPS) Anti-kidnapping Task Team has safely reunited a businessman with his family following a shootout with the alleged mastermind behind the kidnapping.

The businessman was found in Alexandra in a shack shortly after midnight on Thursday.

His rescue follows a shooting in which the alleged mastermind behind the kidnapping was shot and killed during a confrontation with police officers near the R21 in Kempton Park, on Wednesday evening.

“The suspect, who goes by the nickname, Dollarman, is a wanted kidnapping kingpin in both SA and Mozambique. He is on SERNIC, which is Mozambique’s wanted persons database, where he was wanted for several kidnappings for ransom cases,” the South African Police Service said in a statement.

In South Africa, he was also linked to at least five kidnappings for ransom cases, as well as other cases of housebreaking, carjacking and possession of unlicensed firearms.

“From July 2021 to date, more than 337 kidnappers have been arrested by the SAPS Anti-Kidnapping Task Team, and more than 146 illegal firearms were seized in all these crime scenes,” the police said.

In the past week alone, police have arrested more than 14 773 suspects for various crimes ranging from murder to rape, and at least 163 illegal firearms have been seized during Operation Shanela.